Key to Atlantis
by Gecko Osco
Summary: Hitomi, gone from Gaea for two years, finds herself whisked back suddenly,only to find things have changed for the worse. Now, she must battle with new allies to regain what was lost. VH of course...review please!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Why hello all. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Osco of GeckoOsco, and welcome to my attempt at a Vision of Escaflowne story! I'm pretty excited about this, although I'm sure the readers of my TT fics are not because this means they'll have to wait longer for updates ! But, no matter, this fic popped into thy head one night, and I'll probably go mad (well, madder) if I don't pen it!

Just to let y'all know, there are going to be original characters in this fic…the canon are still there and this fic is most definitely centered around Van and Hitomi, but expect them because they'll be around. For my storyline, I kinda had to have them, but I'll be sure to not let them get mary-sueish and if they do feel free to let me know. Thanx, and I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own Escaflowne, or any of their characters, I do this strictly for recreation purposes. However, I do own any characters not recognized, so please ask permission before using them.

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**Prologue: Fall of Fanelia;**

He was listening to his advisors go over, for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, the economic stability of Fanelia with the neighboring countries of Asturia, Freid, and other minor sovereigns and the young king felt like driving his brains onto the wall using his sword. He had never known being the leader of a country would be so boring, it had always seemed exciting when he was a child, watching his father argue with the advisors over war issues and what to do about the Zaibach Empire. However, now that no threat existed in Gaea, the arguments Van Fanel could participate in were severely limited to road policies and which princess he would soon have to marry; the other topics put him to sleep before he could think to argue or agree.

So, whilst listening to the council of Fanelia discuss who should be their major partner in trade this season, the young king lounged back in his chair and stared out the small window overlooking his country, thinking of a brown-haired girl he had not seen in two years. The emerald green grass, he mused, resembled her eyes, endless depths where one could lose his or herself in. A small smile tugged at his lips as he imagined what she looked like now, only basing his thoughts on the startling changes two years had incurred in his frame. While his messy raven hair and intense maroon eyes remained untouched by the years, his build and demeanor most certainly did not. He was still lean, suspecting he would never be as large as his father or brother had been, but his shoulders were broader and he had grown quite a few inches. Constant training had kept him fit, and as Merle liked to tease, he had grown to be a very handsome young man despite himself.

Turning his thoughts away from his own changes, he focused instead on the mysterious Hitomi Kanzaki, a girl he had fought with two years prior, but then never seen again after she departed for her world once more. She had annoyed him horribly when he first met her, but the longer she spent by his side, he came to realize just how pure and kind she was, not to mention determined. She had saved his life on more than one occasion, and what's more, she had treated him with awe when she discovered his hidden heritage, a welcome reaction when most society on Gaea regarded Draconians as cursed beings and not to be trusted. He had grown to care for her more than his own life, and had been devastated when she left for her home on the Mystic Moon after the war with Zaibach concluded. If only he could see her face again, he would tell her what had being swimming in his head and heart for two long years, he would tell her…

" King Van! Are you even paying attention to this discussion!"

" Uh-What?" Van asked dazedly, shocked out of his dream world and back into his dull reality. He looked around to see his advisors glaring daggers at him, not one of them amused he had been ignoring their important discussion. Then, a bit sheepishly, he admitted, " I'm sorry, I was not. I must have drifted off, what was the council talking about?"

" To be frank your Majesty," a particular nasty advisor called Pugent sniffed out, highly affronted by his king's flagrant behavior. " We were discussing the troubling dilemma of trying to find you a wife. You seem most adverse to every princess the council fashion to bring by, and you are tiring our resources with your stubbornness."

" I'm not going to marry some girl I've never met before in my life to appease this council," Van said in a dangerous voice, his maroon eyes glowing with an angry fire in their depths. " I've already made that clear. To continue pestering me about it is not going to suddenly change my mind about the issue."

" But your Majesty," another advisor asked in a squeaky voice. " Fanelia can make many enemies this way. It is much wiser to marry for allegiance and forge allies than for love of a girl who may or may not come back."

Van merely gazed stonily back at the councilor, his insides churning in the storm of anger that were his emotions, and said in a commanding voice, " Thank you gentleman, this session is over."

Grumbling amongst them, each advisor rose from their seats, gathered their things, and proceeded to leave the room, bowing to the young man before they left. The last to leave, Pugent, hesitated after he gave Van a terse bow and then murmured, " Think about what is right for Fanelia my King and forget the seeress, for she is not returning anytime in the near future," and then left quickly, leaving an angry Van left in the chamber.

Van paced around the room for a few minutes before he couldn't take the suffocating walls and rushed out of the room and up to the roof of the tallest tower in his castle. Once there, he closed his eyes and let the calming breeze relax the tension out of his taut muscles, only moving to brush a stray lock of his black hair out of his face every now and then. He opened his mahogany orbs and walked over to the edge of the wall and gazed out at his city and citizens, well aware of the light, padded footsteps he heard approaching his still form.

" Do you think they're right Merle?" Van asked his closest friend after they stood beside each other silently for a moment, content to gaze out at the city and its denizens. " What they said about needing to do what's right for Fanelia."

" I don't know Lord Van," Merle said with a sigh as she glanced over at her lovesick friend, her brown eyes fixing on his profile. " I guess those bozos have a small point, but you have to do what's right to you, not them. Do you believe she'll come back is the question."

" I don't know anymore," Van said sadly, locking his eyes on his best friend's. " I was so sure up until today, but now…I just don't know. She promised she would, but it's been two years and she still hasn't come." He looked down at the magenta colored pendant he had clenched unconsciously in his fist, his heart filling to the brim from everything from love to anger. He glanced up at Merle, noting the pity in her eyes, and gave a sad sort of grimace meant to be a smile before looking back over the buildings and country of his kingdom.

Merle tried to regain eye contact, but gave up with an impatient huff when he refused to look at her. She rested her head in her paws on the small hedge-like wall of the tower, the wind, no longer gentle, blowing her pink tresses around like a whip in the air. She looked up, and noted the dramatic change in the sky, the clear and peaceful blue changes to an angry and churning blackish gray. She lifted her head in confusion, not aware of how the weather could change so drastically in a second, and looked back over at Van, seeing the tense look that now dominated his features.

" Lord Van," she said fearfully, grasping his hand with her furry paw to comfort herself. " What's going on? Why is the sky so dark, it's not storm season yet."

" No, it's not," he answered, a frown forming both in between his eyebrows and on his mouth as he continued to gaze out at the horizon, thinking he espied something in the distance. The more he stared, the surer he was that he saw something that was not supposed to be there, and he turned to find one of his soldiers behind him, an alarmed look on his face.

" Your Majesty," he said breathlessly, drawing a gasp from Merle at his disheveled and bloodied look. " Fanelia is under attack! Just outside the city, on the border, they came out of the very night they did, destroying us before we could even launch a counter attack!"

" What is!" Van asked angrily, dislodging himself from Merle and coming within an inch of the hurt soldier. " Never mind, how far are they from the city? Did any others escape?"

" No milord," the soldier said in a sad and desperate tone. " None of them can have. I was the only one who escaped, because the captain sent me back to warn you an hour ago. They aren't far, maybe a half hour or so."

" Damn it!" Van swore under his breath as he glanced behind him, noting the fire dotting the horizon now. " All right, I want all the generals and armies to head out and fight this enemy, give the people a chance to escape. Go and tell them now soldier!"

The young man nodded quickly before rushing down the stairs and heading towards the barracks. Van turned around again to face a terrified looking Merle, one paw clamped over her mouth to keep herself from screaming, tears poring down her face and wetting her fur. His eyes softened and he took his friend's free paw in his own hands and whispered, " Merle, you have to help organize the people for evacuation. I know you don't like to leave me, but you have to do this for me, please help my people Merle."

" B-but," she hiccupped as she lowered her paw from her face. " W-what are you g-going t-to d-do?"

" I have to fight with the men Merle," he said gently, trying to keep the fear and guilt from his voice. " I have to use Escaflowne and help in any way I can. But, I can't do that if I'm worried about you or the people, so I need you to help get them out of here. Please Merle, help me."

Fear still filling her eyes for her Lord Van, she nodded bravely and rushed down the stairs to fulfill the task he set for her. He watched her leave, relieved she didn't put up more of a fight, and then focused his intense maroon eyes back on the fires ravaging his home. He could hear the first shouts of panic and terror emanating from the city, and he could faintly see through the inky darkness figures gliding to engage his doomed soldiers outside of the city walls. He raced back into his room, donned on his armor, strapped his sword around his slender waist, flung open his window and jumped out within a span of three minutes.

He hurtled towards the ground impossibly fast, but right before he hit the ground, his gleaming white wings exploded from behind him and carried him back up into the air and towards the battle, and his own mind decided that he did not have enough time to retrieve Escaflowne. He could sense his people looking up at him and cheering as they rushed to gather their belongings and evacuate the city, their confidence in him bolstering his failing morale. His left hand unconsciously tightened around the pink amulet strung about his neck and he closed his eyes as he drew his sword from its sheath with his right. Snapping his fiery eyes open, he unleashed a cry as he dove on the cloaked beings below, hacking two apart as he flew close to the ground.

He did not stay airborne very long, a blow to his side hurling his body to the ground, but that did not deter him one bit. Van rose up as quickly as he had fallen, not bothering to close his massive wings, and hurtled at a cloaked thing who was killing one of his soldiers. He took no notice that the creature did not bleed when he killed it, already moving on to the next enemy who presented itself. So he continued for what seemed to be an eternity to the young man who vowed to never fight again, not noticing or caring that his forces were not winning, daring to give his people a moment longer to escape the destruction already promised to them by the attackers. Then, as if he had not been trained by the legendary Balgus to detect approaching enemies, he felt a blow to his head and crashed to the ground, his sword kicked to the side by his attacker. Van started to push himself up, but was met with a shock of burning pain that made him cry out and curl into a ball until it subsided.

" Pity," a rasping voice hissed in Van's ear as a strong, but clammy hand grasped his head by the messy black locks and yanked the young king's head up to look out at the carnage of the battlefield. " I had expected more from someone who is such a legend in this land. Instead, I find a little human boy playing a game meant for grown creatures. Little king, look at what my brethren and I have wreaked upon your armies and your people…does it fill you with sadness that under your rule these people have suffered catastrophe twice at your hands? Of course it does halfling child."

Van felt the things clammy and black finger trail down his cheek, and he had to fight to keep from retching. Everything the being was telling him was true, and he knew it as he gazed out at the sight of his broken, bloodied, and dead soldiers, the blackened sky turned a blood red. Cries of women and children drew his attention to the city, these monsters flowing into the fleeing city as bacteria flows into a wound, and he felt a warm tear of despair flow down his cheek as his entire world was destroyed in front of his eyes. The thing chuckled in his ear and flung him down back on the ground, his form sweeping Van's sword into its sticky hands.

" Your kingdom is no more little draconian, perhaps your people truly are cursed…I know not for I never had the pleasure of looking upon Atlantis, our kind banished from its splendors. No matter though, the land of Gaea will suit the Arref just fine. Now halfling, how does that make you feel?"

The creature, a self-proclaimed Arref, tossed the sword of Fanelia to Van, who grabbed it immediately and leapt up with a snarl, any former pains disregarded to the intense hatred he felt filling him for these beings. He launched himself at the Arref, and the two continued in a deadly but beautiful dance of swords, both equally skilled. The Arref noticed that the child was obviously much better at handling a sword than he himself was, but he was not about to lose what he had waited so long for, and with that thought, he unleashed a great stream of dark blue energy that hit Van, doubling him over. The Arref gazed down pitilessly as he watched the young king writhe on the ground in pain, instead beckoning some of his fellows over to do what they had come here to Fanelia to do.

" Yes master?"

" You called for us?"

" Zorbane, I was wondering where you were...enjoying thyself I hope."

" It had better be of import Zorbane, I was enjoying flaying the life out of a child in the city-like hovel."

" It is important De-miraz," the one the others called Zorbane answered in a commanding tone. " Look behind you."

" Is that it Zorbane? That squalling human no more than a child? He is too young," scoffed De'Miraz, a female by the lighter tone in her rasp.

" That boy is not all that he appears," Zorbane said as he took a spot in the circle the five Arrefs were creating around Van. " Do normal human boys have wings? No, they do not…he IS Draconian, and he is what we have come for. I am positive of that."

When met with no resistance, he motioned a strange and foreign gesture in the air, signaling the other Arrefs to chant in an archaic tone that Van could not understand. The pain had stopped when the other monsters arrived, but he could not even move his trembling limbs an inch without feeling a spasm flood through him. Van leaned his head up and was able to catch a glimpse of some survivors on the hill opposite side of the burning city. He hoped Merle was with that group and safe.

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" He's hurt! We have to go back and help him! Those things are going to kill him!"

" Merle," the rumbling voice of Ruhm said in her ear as he dragged the distraught cat-girl away from the grisly display of what once was Fanelia, his own voice threatening to break as he tried to stay strong for his people. After escaping the inferno of the city, Ruhm had ended up leading a good fifty people as the survivors split off into groups so not to be seen as easily. Ruhm, Merle accompanying him with the household of the castle she had gotten out, had climbed up the hill so to see how King Van was faring, and they were met with an awful sight.

He was surrounded by those creatures, and unmoving on the ground, one wing bent at an awkward angle under his lithe body. It was enough to scare what little courage they all had left away, to see their king helpless like that. Ruhm had sent everyone away, not wanting them to witness what he knew was to come. However, Merle had refused to leave, and now he was struggling to keep her from marching back down to the field to help her childhood friend.

" Merle, you cannot do anything to help the king now," Ruhm said as he struggled anew against the stubborn girl. " We must get away now, it's what he would have wanted you to do."

" HE IS NOT DEAD YET!" Merle screamed as she watched the black creatures lift their arms and gather light around their limbs. " We can still help him! Please…VAN!"

What happened next, neither Merle nor Ruhm could have expected.

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He heard them muttering some sort of spell, but for the life of him he could not hear the exact words. Van tried to move his wings, but discovered that one was crushed painfully under his weight and utterly useless to the other free one. Sighing angrily, Van gripped the pink pendant around his neck as if trying to stall the inevitable he knew was coming. He focused his maroon eyes to the Mystic Moon hanging above him, still unhidden from the murkiness enveloping everything else, his mouth forming a small smile as he thought of a girl who lived up there that he would never see again.

His body started to tingle painfully and he looked down at himself to find his body glowing with a white light coming from the outstretched arms of the Arref. Slowly, the pain grew more powerful, eliciting a groan from him as it felt like his soul was being torn from his body. He fought the urge to scream as the light continued to envelope him, he could clearly hear words being uttered by the Arref as they raised in what he could only assume was the end of their spell. This was it, the end, a mixture of sweet relief and bitter regret. His body was completely consumed by the white flames, and with his last coherent thought, he screamed, and Van Slanzar de Fanel was swept away from the world.

" HITOMI!"

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Alone in the dark, Hitomi Kanzaki shot up from her bed, the voice of her dearest friend echoing in her ears in his last moments on Gaea.

" Van…"

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**A/N: **Well, that's the end of the prologue guys. Good, not good, whatever? Let me know, I love reviews, and welcome constructive criticism, just no meaningless flames that rant just to rant.

I know, a little long for a prologue, well, I can't write a short chapter at all, so I guess you guys sorta win, I lose but whatever. Remember, reviewing is an author's best friend! Until next time!

Osco


	2. Graduation Ceremony

**A/N: **Howdy y'all! Thanx to the people who reviewed the prologue…I know it was sorta confusing. Did y'all think I really killed off Van? Well, I can't tell you what I did to him, but I do have a reputation of torturing my favorite characters in some fashion or another. Just to let y'all know. Disclaimer is in the first chapter for reference, I only like to admit defeat once, read it there again if you wish.

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**Key to Atlantis**

**Chapter One: Graduation Ceremony:**

Hitomi Kanzaki sat up wide awake in her four poster bed, shaking from head to toe from the horrifying nightmare she had been startled up from moments earlier.

' It was a nightmare…not a vision," she thought to herself as she pushed damp, tangled locks out of her face as she took a steadying breath to calm her nerves. She laid back down, attempting to once again fall asleep before the daylight came, but after a restless ten minutes gave up with an exasperated sigh and rose out of bed.

She padded softly towards the bathroom in her room, not wanting to squeak a floorboard and wake anyone else in the house with her insomnia, and softly shut the door with a quiet click so she could flip on the light. The brightness blinded her dilated pupils at first, causing her to blink her emerald eyes in rapid succession before she could see well enough to turn on the faucet and splash her face with warm water. She dried her face with a fluffy white towel hanging on a hook attached to the door and looked up at her reflection before leaving the bathroom.

She more or less had not changed all too much over the two years since she had left Gaea, her face still retaining the youthful beauty she always had, and her eyes still a vibrant green as ever. No, it was her body that had changed the most she and her best friend Yukari decided, filling out into a slender but curvy body as opposed to the boyish frame that had accompanied her through most of her life. That and her light brown hair, which was now down to her shoulders because she had desired a change after two years of the same short haircut. At seventeen, Hitomi had transformed from a pretty girl into a beautiful young woman, and others her age were taking notice.

Not that it mattered to her though, for her thoughts dwelled on only one person, and that person was far away from her at the moment. Hitomi turned off the light to the bathroom and walked back out into her room, but instead of going back to bed, she opened her window and clambered out to sit on her roof and star gaze, a habit she had grown accustomed to ever since she had been sent back home from Gaea. She curled up her long, honed legs up to her chest and started up at the sparkling lights in the sky, not minding the slight breeze that blew around her brown tresses in a teasing manner.

Her thoughts drifted to the people she had left behind on Gaea two years ago as she searched the stars for the wondrous world she had been whisked too once upon a time, a land where she had fought evil beings, met princesses and knights, and stumbled across her own prince charming in the process. Hitomi gave a small laugh as she thought of a raven-haired swordsman, a young man who was anything but charming, but had still won her heart by the end of her journey. He was so cold to her when they first met, but after they traversed his world for a time, she came to understand the shy but tortured soul he truly was. It was him, more than Allen, Millerna, Chid, or even Merle that she missed the most.

"Van," she whispered to the wind as a small tear of regret spilled down her cheek. "I miss you so much. I have to grow up today, it's my graduation ceremony tonight and I'll have to leave you behind forever. I don't want to, but I can't get back to your world…maybe we just weren't meant to be after all. If that's the case, I'm sorry I treated you so awfully while I was there, I'm sorry I hurt you. I never meant to."

She brushed a hand at her face to wipe away her tears, determined to be strong like he would be. Her thoughts drifted to the dream…vision…the reason she had awoken so early in the first place as she continued to gaze at the stars in a mournful fashion. She could not recall everything she saw, but she definitely remembered dark-robed figures that were destroying Fanelia. She remembered Van was in trouble, she could see him fighting gallantly to save his country and people, and she could see Merle screaming as a large man she recognized as Ruhm pulled her away, but she could not hear them. She focused her brain on what happened next, her eyes screwed shut as she wracked her mind for images, and then her eyes flew open as she saw Van being engulfed in a white light, her name the last thing echoing from his lips.

"You were in pain Van," Hitomi said to herself, a fear gripping her heart in a cold grasp. "You screamed my name in pain and then were gone…what happened to you? Are you all right, is Merle all right? Please, please Van be okay…I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you."

She tried to focus on her dream once more, but her mind relinquished no more information concerning what the robed-beings were, or where Van had disappeared to, and she chided herself for her silliness as she climbed back into her room.

"You just miss him is all," Hitomi told herself fiercely as she shut the window and got back into bed. "I'm sure that all of them are just fine, why wouldn't they be? He's probably forgotten you already Hitomi; it has been two years after all, I'm sure he's moved on with his life, like you will be tonight."

With a sad smile, she covered herself with a light blanket and rested her head on the pillow, her eyes closing to the image of the handsome face of a boy that had stolen her heart without even trying. She had to move on with her life now, stop playing make believe and grow up; she had to give him up. A sad smile crossed her lips as she felt sleep once more take hold of her, her dream pushed aside as a fanciful image conjured by her desire to see the Fanelian king one more time, and nothing but Van holding her in his arms filling her mind.

"_Please don't forget me Hitomi, no matter what happens, don't forget me."_

"I won't," she murmured as sleep took her, unaware that she was started down the path that would compel her to do just that.

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"Hitomi, what's up with you today? Are you nervous about tonight?"

" Um-What?" Hitomi asked her red-headed friend as they walked down the mall, on a mission to find Yukari the perfect heels to go with her outfit for the graduation. Hitomi personally was going to wear flip-flops with the skirt and camisole underneath her robes tonight, but she understood how girls like Yukari worked enough to not press the issue. She looked up from her daydream, another one of Van of course, to find her friend smirking at her, a twinkle dancing in her eyes.

"Are you okay 'Tomi?" Yukari asked playfully, cocking her head to the side to give her brown-haired friend a quizzical expression. "You are awfully distracted today! That was the THIRD time I asked about those pink shoes, and you just kept staring out the window! I mean, I understand if you're nervous about tonight, but don't go paranoid on me about it!"

"I wasn't thinking about the ceremony Yukari," Hitomi said with a laugh at her friend's mock anger. "And I think the pink heels are very nice, they are definitely the winners I think. But, I guess I am a little distracted today, it's just a lot to deal with all at once you know?"

"You were thinking about that boy again weren't you?" Yukari said with a knowing look as the girls exited the shop after the red-head purchased her perfect shoes. "I can tell, you always get that faraway look on your face when you do, the one with sword?"

Hitomi gave a small nod accompanied with a barely audible, " Yes," as the two girls walked back out to Yukari's car in the parking structure outside. Of all the people she knew, Yukari was the only one who Hitomi told about her adventures in Gaea, mainly because only her and Amano had seen her taken by the pillar of blue light two years prior. It helped that she had someone to talk about Van with, and it also helped to have someone fend off boys without asking why she didn't go out with one of them.

Yukari studied the forlorn look on her friend's face for a moment before look ahead again. She knew all too well that Hitomi truly cared about that messy haired boy who she saw fighting the dragon all that time ago. At first, she had a hard time believing the brunette's story of another world, evil armies, huge fighting robots, and a winged boy who had saved her life and stolen her heart in the process, but Hitomi believed it so fiercely that Yukari had come to realize that it probably had really happened. She knew what Hitomi was feeling, but she had no idea of how to help when the boy she loved happened to live in a different world.

" Hey," she said quietly, giving Hitomi a slight nudge and a smile. " It'll be all right you know. Just because we're graduating doesn't mean that you have to forget about him. Maybe you'll even see him again!"

" I guess," Hitomi said half-heartedly, knowing in her heart that her friend was just saying those comforting words for just that, comfort. " Yukari, do you think I'm being silly in waiting so long for a boy that I probably won't ever see again? Please tell me honestly."

" Honestly," Yukari said with a sad frown as she opened the door to her car and unlocked Hitomi's as well. " I think it's strange, and maybe a bit unlikely, but I think you truly love this guy Hitomi. Not just that puppy love you think you feel when you're younger, but actual love. And if you love him as much as I think you do, I think you should hold onto that love until YOU feel you shouldn't. I really did mean it, maybe he'll come back soon."

Hitomi didn't say anything for the remainder of the drive back to her house, and Yukari didn't press her too, knowing her friend needed to mull over some things in her heart and head. When the girls arrived at Hitomi's familiar dwelling, Yukari gave her a cheery wave and a promise to pick her up later for the ceremony, seeing as the students had to arrive a full hour and a half earlier than the parents and guests. Hitomi waved goodbye, and remained on her curb until she could no longer see her friend's car before she headed back into her house, her eyes downcast with a burden she did not want to bear.

" I'm home," she shouted as she shut the front door and slipped off her shoes as she walked into her kitchen for a quick snack and a glass of water.

" Hello dear," she heard her mother say, and she was greeted with her trademark friendly smile as Hitomi entered. " How was shopping?"

" Same old shopping," Hitomi said with a smile as she rummaged through the fridge before she found the carrots, accepted a glass of water from her mother, and sat down at the table to enjoy her meal. " You know Yukari, it takes her three hours to find one pair of shoes we past by at least four times. But the mall wasn't busy, so it was all right."

" That's nice dear," her mother said in a kind tone as she set down her remaining dishes and sat beside her daughter at the table. Sasuki Kanzaki knew when something was bothering her daughter, no matter how much Hitomi thought she concealed from her family and friends, a kind of mother's intuition. So, she sat next to the young woman who was about to enter the adult world and calmly asked, " What is wrong child? Do not lie to me by saying nothing is wrong, I know both you and Mamoru to well for that to work on me. Is it about the ceremony tonight?"

Hitomi was silent towards all of her mother's questions, not trusting herself to speak in case the whole truth came spilling out, and after all, she was a terrible liar. Not to mention, how did you tell your mother that the reason you are so depressed is because you are in love with a boy, a king to boot, who lives in another world full of magic and strange beings without coming across as crazy? So, after a few minutes of silent patience, she simply said, " Yeah, I'm upset about the ceremony tonight. It's just nerve-wracking, you know, I mean, I'm leaving soon! It's a lot to handle at once."

" Hitomi," her mother said in a kind voice, her eyes sparkling with pride. " You have been accepted to a wonderful university for your track and academic skills. You have no reason to fear what will become of you when the future grabs hold of you, you will do great things with your life, your father and I have never doubted that. I know that is not the reason, is it because of what I told you last year concerning your father?"

" No!" Hitomi exclaimed, surprised her mother thought she was upset over that. " Of course not! I told you and my father that it doesn't matter to me, he'll always be my real dad. No it's just…I feel like I suddenly have to let go of things and I don't think I can…not really."  
Sasuki looked at her daughter tormented face, seeing all too clearly what caused the conflict within her. Her oldest child was in love, and she was worried she would now have to leave this love behind. A memory of her own mother, Hitomi's grandmother, echoed in her mind, one that reminded her of a hidden world filled with danger and fantasy. A world that she believed spirited her daughter away from her two years ago, a world that apparently housed someone who had stolen her daughter's love in the process. She reached over and cupped Hitomi's shaking hands within her own warm ones, and gazed at her daughter with an understanding gaze that revealed everything between the two women.

" Hitomi, I can't pretend that I won't worry about you if you leave again like you did when you were fifteen, but I understand why you feel you may need too. Just know that your family will always love and care for you, no matter how far away from us you are."

" Mother," Hitomi said in a husky voice that sounded horrid even to her. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around the caring woman, drawing strength from her strong presence. They cradled each other for a moment, mother and daughter, before Hitomi broke away, hastily wiping her eyes with a rueful smile on her face. " This is ridiculous, I'm crying over something silly again! It's not like I'll ever go back to Gaea anyhow."

" Gaea, that place is called Gaea?" Sasuki asked, curious about the place that chosen her mother and daughter to save it, for that could be the only explanation why it would take people she justified. " It is a beautiful name. What is his name?"

" Van," Hitomi said, caught off guard by her mother's understanding and acceptance of what happened two years ago. " Van Slanzar de Fanel. King of Fanelia."

" A king eh?" Sasuki asked her daughter playfully as she rose to return to her dishes. " I see I taught you well in aiming for the best. When do I get to meet him, at a grand ball?"

" I don't know," Hitomi said with a giggle, the thought of introducing her mother to Van hilarious in too many ways to fully comprehend. She sobered up and said a bit quietly, " I don't know if I'll ever see him again. I gave him my pendant when I left, but I haven't seen him since then, he'd be my age and the ruler of a country, he may have forgotten me."

" Impossible my dear," he mother said absentmindedly as she dried of a plate and put is back in its cupboard. " Whenever a woman gives a man some sort of souvenir of their affection, we have them for life. Lord knows it's what I used on your father! I gave him a ring I had since I was a child on a chain…he still wears it from time to time."

Hitomi remained silent, her mother's words filling her with hope, but her doubts still poking at her mind and heart to be heard. She finished her snack and helped her mother clean up the remaining dishes before stating she needed to start getting ready for the ceremony if she wanted to be on time.

" Remember dear," her mother said as Hitomi walked out the door and towards her own room. " We stand beside you, no matter what path you decide to tread."

Hitomi gave a soft, beautiful smile at her mother before heading up the stairs, something that made her brother entering the kitchen for a snack of his own to ask, " What was that about mother? Something up with Hitomi?"

" You're sister is just growing up Mamuro," Sasuki said with a sad smile as a lone tear streaked down her cheek. " That's all."

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" Hurry up Hitomi!" Yukari yelled out through the gymnasium of her high school as the graduates all lined up in their respective lines, mutterings good lucks and exchanging excited high fives every so often. " Your line is over there…where were you anyway?"

" I was going to the bathroom all right!" Hitomi hissed under her breath as she took her spot in the honor rows opposite Yukari who was in the second line and directly across from her for the moment. " I was nervous, I know I'm going to trip and fall on my face."

" You are wearing flip flops Hitomi," Yukari said in an amused voice as she looked down at her friends blue sandals that matched the bohemian blue skirt and tight white halter the brunette was wearing underneath her black robes perfectly. " I mean, I'm more likely to trip, my heels aren't exactly comfort shoes or help with balance."

Hitomi glanced at the pink heels her friend had picked out earlier that day, a light pink color that matched the short summer dress beneath the robes very well. Both her parents and Yukari's made quite a fuss with ' how grown up you both look' and ' you both look so pretty!" That was the reason for why they were late, that and the million and a half pictures taken before both girls sternly yelled they had to leave or they would graduate next year.

" I suppose so," Hitomi answered her friend after her thoughts focused back onto the present. " Is Amano here tonight for you? I thought he said he would be."

" He is," Yukari said with an infectious grin as the line leaders took their places and the lines began to march. " Hey Hitomi, I just want to let you know how much I love you. You're my best friend, and I'll always remember you, no matter where we go from here."

Hitomi flashed her friend a radiant smile, one that was mingled with excitement and misgivings of the future, and followed her line down the field of her high school, hearing people cheering as she and her fellow students walked down the aisles. She took her seat when the every student had arrived at their assigned chair, and watched the beginnings of the ceremony with a feeling she identified as happiness that she had finished an important phase of her life. The school song was beautiful, and she found herself singing along with the lines unconsciously, and she clapped along with her friends when both the valedictorian and salutatorian finished their speeches.

She marched up to the podium to receive her diploma when her name was called, hearing the cheers that accompanied her name, and was pleased when she didn't trip at all. She took her seat and watched the other graduates receive their certificates with a serene look on her face. She reached down and played a song off her I-Pod that she had brought along to help calm her nerves. It always reminded her of Van…maybe that was why she loved it so much.

"_Well I guess you left me with some feathers in my hand,"_ Hitomi sang under her breath, letting the comfort she always felt when thinking about Van flow over her.

"_Did it make it any easier to leave me where I stand?_

" _I guess there may not be too many who would stand beside you now…"_

A peculiar feeling rushed over her, but she kept on singing, trying to ignore a familiar light-headed feeling she knew all too well.

" _Every night these silhouettes appear above my head,_

"_And little angels of the silences that climb into my bed and whisper,_

"_Every time I fall asleep, every time I dream,_

" _Did you come? Would you lie?_

It flooded over her mind in a rush, that awareness that accompanied her visions on Gaea, and she was reminded of that feeling that one gets before a sneeze, the anticipation of something they know is coming but has not yet. And yet, she kept on singing, even as she rose to throw her cap up into the air with her fellow classmates.

"_I dream of Michelangelo when I'm lying in my bed,_

"_Little angels hang above my head, and read me like an open book,_

"_Suck my blood, break my nerve, offer me their arms,_

" _Well I will not be a little of me of anything, I've always stood here!"_

" _Waiting, for you, all my senses said that I would pay for them_

" _If I could, come back, to you,_

" _All my innocence is wasted on a little dreaming,_

"_I'm gone, I'm gone, I'm gone, I'm-"_

She let out a gasp as she was overwhelmed with a vision that was not her own. It wasn't a dream this time, it was a vision, a prediction, a rede of the future. She lost touch with everything around her, everything she knew, and only was aware of what she was shown. She saw destruction of Gaea, its landmarks easy to identify, at the hands of the cloaked beings from her dream the other night. She saw a ghost wander as if it was part of the living, and she saw a lost dragon not sure if it should exist.

The blood and smoke nearly choked her, and she felt tears flow freely from her emerald orbs as she looked upon a destruction that would make even murderers weep. But then, her vision suddenly switched to other images, ones of peace and life, even though it was faint and almost out of reach, and figures flashed in front of her eyes, signifying who was needed to stop the pain and death.

She saw a cat girl with a severed tail, both in spirit and physical. She saw a young warrior trapped in a corrupt king's cage, one whose past was hidden in a cloud of secrets. She saw a purple-eyed princess, afraid of the world she would one day inherit, and longing to fly free. She saw a man dressed in blood with an eye-patch, one whose heart was filled with bitterness and anger. And finally, she saw an entrapped angel, no Draconian, whose piercing red eyes she knew all too well.

When she opened her eyes to look back on the field she was graduating on, she found to her horror that great beams of pink light were beaming down everywhere, showing glimpses of monsters and strange beings alike before being swept away back to Gaea. The students were in panic but Hitomi stood there, calm as a tree, gazing at the glowing pink pendant she now held in her hand.

" How did I get this? Van!"

A beam of pink light engulfed her, warming and chilling at the same time, and she knew no more as she was carried away from her home on the Mystic Moon once again. Her parents and friends watched her disappear, disappear back to the land where she would find danger and love all at once, her mother thought silently to herself.

" Please then king Van Fanel, protect my daughter, and bring her back once more to say goodbye," she whispered as her husband wrapped her into his warm embrace.

Too bad Sasuki Kanzaki didn't know it was not her daughter that needed to be saved, but one who needed to do the saving.

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Her head was pounding, that more than anything else awoke Hitomi from the fainting episode that accompanied her vision. She pushed herself off the soft, brown ground and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the bright glare of the sun.

' The sun? It was night only moments ago…and the ground was green, not brown…'

Hitomi looked up sharply and took in her surroundings, ignoring the stabbing annoyance assailing her brain, and let out a soft gasp as she recognized where she was. The trees were tall and thick, their dark brown branches covered in leaves coloring from deep green to silver in the light. The air was clearer and sweeter, not tainted with the smells of pollution, and it was quiet, as if no one was around for miles. She pushed herself to her feet and turned around quickly, looking like a do trying to locate its tail, and then looked up into the sky, knowing that she would still be able to see the moons in the daylight.

And she did. There, clear as anything, was her own familiar moon, and another right beside it blinking with lights that she knew to be buildings and homes and covered by huge expanses of blue. It was Earth…Mystic Moon here.

" Oh my…" she whispered to no one in particular as she looked back down to the pendant clutched tightly in her palm. " I'm back, I'm on Gaea."

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**A/N: **Well, there you go. I hoped you likey, tell me what you thought!

Oh, and just to say, I don't own "Angels of the Silences," Counting Crows do. But, I didn't use it in a songfic manner, Hitomi was merely singing the song, so ha to you Doesn't that song just remind you of Van? Well, it did to me, so I used it.

Remember, the review button is right there…let me know what you think, I love feedback. Until next time, Adios!

Osco


	3. A Dragon and a Cat

**A/N: **Hello hello again readers! Thanx so very much for all the encouraging reviews…I'm happy no one thought it was bad enough to say anything. So, good news, I just watched my new Escaflowne box-set twice…so I have a pretty good grasp on the characters now, and enough information to make my plotline polished. So, pretty good news for y'all. I hope you enjoy!

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**Key to Atlantis:**

**Chapter Two: A Dragon and a Cat:**

Hitomi didn't move for what seemed to her a few hours, just staring ahead at the lush trees of one of Gaea's forests and contemplating what had just happened to her. It seemed impossible that only moments ago she had just graduated from high school, and only twelve hours ago she had dreamt that horrible image of Van and Fanelia. Nevertheless, she was back on Gaea, just like she had wished for the past two years,but now that she was here, she had no idea what to do. She slowly raised her head to look up at the Earth and the moon hanging in the sky, a faint outline hiding behind the fluffy clouds hanging in the foreign sky, and narrowed her eyes in resolution as she pushed herself off the ground.

"Well," she said to herself as she brushed some dirt off her black robes. "It won't do me any good to just sit around here and mope; I need to find someone who can tell me where I am. I guess I can't really wear this black robe around either…"

She heaved a sigh, regretful that she would not be able to give her parents her gown to save, and shrugged off the stuffy clothing, leaving her in the short, turquoise bohemian skirt, and blue flip-flops. She looked down at her feet, wishing she was wearing her trusty sneakers, but resigned herself to discomfort until she could find some sort of boots in a town and started to walk through the forest. She judged what direction she was headed by looking at the moss on the trees, guessing that Fanelia was somewhere near the north, but she soon found herself horribly lost.

"Oh, these look like the Fanelian dragon forests, but why can't I find the city?" Hitomi asked herself as the sun started to set and weariness began to wear at her resolve. "Everything looks so much different, like it's wild and untamed…where is everyone? I thought Ruhm and his clan lived in these woods, oh where am I?"

She stopped and turned around in a hopeless circle, praying that something would jog her memory and tell her what direction to go, but nothing did. Letting out a strangled sob of exhaustion, anger, and sadness, Hitomi sank to her knees and let the tears flow down her face, not caring about her dignity at this point. It wasn't until she wiped her face with her bare arm after a few moments had passed that she realized she was still gripping the pink pendant in her left hand, the trinket forgotten in her initial shock of arriving in Gaea. She gazed at the small, pink stone, an inner battle waging itself in her mind on what she should do.

'If I use the pendant to dowse, I can find my way out of this forest…or at least to someone who can help me. But, I haven't dowsed in two years, and I promised myself that I wouldn't again, the visions not worth the knowledge. Oh, why does it have to be so hard to decide what to do! I'm almost a grown woman and I'm still acting like a child. What would Van do?'

Her emerald eyes narrowed in determination as she thought of what Van would do, he would use the pendant and face his fears, so that was what she needed to do. She would find her way faster this way anyhow. She steadied her shaking limb and held the pendant directly in front of her, closing her eyes as she pictured Fanelia in her mind. She felt the familiar presence sink back into her mind, focusing all of her thought on Fanelia and its raven-haired ruler, and the picture suddenly showed itself just like it used to.

"Van's parents' graves?" Hitomi asked herself when she reopened her eyes and pushed herself back onto her tired legs. "That's where I need to go? Why not Fanelia? It's so strange…but that's where the pendant said to go. I guess I was right, I am in the Dragon forests of Fanelia."

She placed the pendant around her neck in a swift motion, gathered up her black robe and I-Pod, and headed in the direction her vision had pointed her too, a place she remembered well from her last visit to Gaea. It was where she had left Van. Her paced quickened with renewed vigor as she briskly walked down the now darkened path. It didn't take her half as long as she thought it would to reach her destination, only an hour or so, the clearing where ancient nobles of house Fanel were laid to rest bathed in the bright light coming from the Mystic Moon, the Earth.

Hitomi glanced around the tombstones of Gaou and Folken Fanel, pausing at the younger man's grave for a moment in respect for his tormented soul. "I hope you are at peace now Folken," she whispered as she gently placed a hand on the monument, tears springing into her eyes. "I hope you are happy."

She turned her attention back to the entire glade, searching for anything that might suggest her aid was near, but finding nothing. She was about to call out when she suddenly whirled back around to the huge tree that Escaflowne had been put to sleep at. It wasn't there anymore! Hitomi's eyes went wide at the sight, knowing that if the huge guymelef wasn't rested here, it was being used in battle.

"Oh Van," Hitomi gasped as she fell to her knees, the horrible image of him from the prior night filling her thoughts. "Please be all right, please don't be using Escaflowne!" She sat there for a while, choking sobs of worry and fear echoing from her body from time to time, until her dead-tired body finally gave in to the sometimes comfort of sleep.

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'What is that sound? I know that sound…it's the tune Folken used to whistle, an old Fanelian song. Where is it coming from?'

Hitomi's eyes fluttered open, the quiet whistle awaking her from the recharging slumber, and she blinked her eyes a few times to adjust to the dreary gray sky that accompanied the early hours of the morning. When she wiped the last of the sleep from her eyes and stretched her sore limbs was when she noticed the two large, deep maroon eyes staring at her in curiosity.

"WHAAAA!" Hitomi screamed in alarm as she pushed herself off the ground quick as a mongoose and stared at the creature in front of her, alarm now being replaced with her own curiosity mingled with surprise as she recognized what it was. "It's a dragon…"

Sure enough, in front of the astonished green-eyed girl was a dragon, but not like the ones Hitomi had seen before. This one, while still large, was slender and no bigger than an elephant in height, its sinuous muscles on display for Hitomi to see as it crouched in front of her. It was a pure white color, with a deep purple stripe running down its spine,and had a large magenta colored patch on its gleaming chest. The spikes that protruded from its spine were also a magenta color, but soon Hitomi found herself staring back into the large, beautiful maroon eyes it had. However, Hitomi did not feel any fear in her body anymore, for it looked nothing like any of the other dragons she had seen before.

"You're beautiful," Hitomi whispered to the majestic looking dragon sitting in front of her, regarding her as a cat would regard its master, in polite curiosity.

"_Thank you child of the Mystic Moon."_

"WHAA!" Hitomi yelped again as she looked around for the source of the voice that had interrupted into her thoughts. "Who said that! Where are you!"

"_Please do not yell so loudly child, it is not the safest of times in Gaea at the moment."_

Hitomi froze in mid-spin, her mind registering who exactly was speaking to her, and she turned slowly on her heel to face the white dragon again, who was now wearing an expression of amusement at her astonishment. "Is it…is it you? Are talking to me?"

"_Very good, I'd be disappointed if you could not figure out who was speaking to you. I had always heard that beings from the Mystic Moon were intelligent folk."_

"But how are you talking!" Hitomi exclaimed, her surprise only heightened at the dragon's confirmation. "None of the other dragons could talk! Or, at least Van never mentioned they could…anyway, why are you talking to me now? And why do you look so different from the other dragons?"

"_So, you are the girl who accompanied the Draconian all those years ago. That is good; I was growing tired of waiting for you to come."_

"You know Van!" Hitomi asked in excitement, forgetting what the dragon said about not speaking loudly. "Where is he? Are we near Fanelia? How do you know him?"

"_I know him better than anything in this world…do you not recognize me Hitomi Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon? Do you not see the old form I had mingled with the new?"_

Hitomi looked at the dragon in curiosity, now wondering why it looked so familiar to her. She had seen that color of magenta before in Gaea, and the color of purple that spiraled down its back reminded her of a long lost image of a vision she had once had. It was when she looked into its maroon eyes that she knew what it was that she was looking at…those were Van's eyes.

"You're Escaflowne," Hitomi breathed in an overwhelmed voice, her own mind not daring to believe what she had just said.

"_Correct again Hitomi,"_ the dragon said in a polite voice as it gracefully walked towards the girl. _"I am Escaflowne, once an Ispano guymelef that was bonded in more than apparent ways with the half Draconian king of Fanelia, and now a corporal dragon. I have been waiting for you to once come and aid Gaea like you once did in the Destiny Wars. You are needed in more than one way now Hitomi…more than what is apparent."_

"Why?" Hitomi asked in a small voice, her legs feeling like they would collapse at any time. "Why do you need my help? Where is Van? Why are you now a dragon? What is going on here?"

"_Gaea has changed much in the time you have been absent Hitomi. Why I am now a dragon is still unknown to me, but I do know that I am here to aid you in your quest. I cannot tell you all of what has happened here in Gaea, so we must find the only left who can…the cat woman called Merle."_

"Merle!" Hitomi exclaimed in surprise, her saddened eyes now rose to look into the maroon ones. "Why only her? What about Van, Allen, Millerna? Why can't I talk to Van…why aren't you with him?"

The dragon's eyes filled with sadness as it said, _"He is lost Hitomi. I do not know where he is, but you might, and that is why you are here. Do you recall the vision you had before you were transported here once more? It is there that you will find the answers to what you ask…but you need to be aware of the dangers that now beset this land. That is why we must find Merle, she is the only one nearby who may help us, and she resides in a village rather than a city, so we will not be spotted so easily by Zaibach."_

Hitomi was silent, halfway registering what Escaflowne said after it spoke of Vans fate. He was lost, and Hitomi could only feel that it was her fault once again, just like her visions caused all that sorrow once upon a time ago. She felt tears form once again, threatening to spill down her smooth cheeks, as she thought of not being able to see Van again, but she pushed those thoughts away angrily and wiped her eyes before looking again at the white dragon.

"If we find Merle, and I tell her about my vision, will I be able to find where Van is?" Hitomi asked in a determined, but still shaky voice, her emerald eyes flaming in passion.

"_I feel that we would be able to child. His help is needed to restore the order to Gaea that has been disrupted. Are you willing to accept this charge child of the Mystic Moon?"_

"Yes," Hitomi whispered, her hand once again gripping the pink pendant hanging from her neck as if she was afraid it would disappear. "I am. I'll help find Van and fix whatever is wrong with Gaea, I owe that much to this land."

The dragon nodded at her in approval, its maroon eyes a twinkle as if it had a huge secret. _"Yes, you will do perfectly child. I had my doubts for some time, but I believe you are the right one for my master…you care very much for him do you not? He does for you; he always has…nothing ever made it abate. Of course he did not understand what he was feeling, a curse of his human heritage no doubt, your kind are the most fickle beings in their feelings I have ever seen."_

"Umm yes," Hitomi said as a blush crept onto her cheeks, the dragon's words making her feel like a lovesick little girl again. "So, where do we need to go to find Merle? Fanelia?"

"_No child. We must go to the city of Arzas, and there we will find a guide to Merle…please do not ask how I know, I just do. It is yet another mystery of my current existence, another mystery that will hopefully be discovered with your help."_

Hitomi nodded in understanding, as she suddenly felt the familiar light-headed feeling overcome her. She saw flashes of her vision again, of the lone white dragon that was not sure if it should exist. Escaflowne was the dragon from her vision! She was about to contemplate more of her vision and its meanings when she felt the large form of Escaflowne next to her, surprising her so bad she jumped. "Hey! What are you doing!"

"_It would be best if we headed out towards Arzas now while it is still early in the morning. Less likely we will be seen by…unfriendly folk. I do not intend to walk the way, we do not have that kind of time anyhow, so you will be riding me and I will fly to Arzas."_

"I have to ride you?" Hitomi asked nervously as she glanced up into the dragon's eyes again. When she received a nod, Hitomi steeled herself and mounted the dragon, carefully though in the short skirt she was wearing, and seated herself in between the wings, her legs on either side of the dragon's neck and her arms wrapped around the neck as well. "Like this?"

"_That will do fine child. I suggest you try not to scream, as it will attract unwanted attention, but breathe in deeply and in time with your heartbeat. You will get used to flying quickly I think, it is similar to when I was a guymelef in dragon form. Hold tight."_

Hitomi kept the scream inside as Escaflowne pushed off the ground, unfurling its large, white wings and flapping mightily to gain altitude. Hitomi felt her stomach drop, and thought she might hurl if she had food in her stomach as they continued to climb high into the sky to be hidden by the gray clouds of the morning. Finally, Escaflowne leveled out and silently glided through the air, occasionally flapping its mighty wings to remain aloft, giving Hitomi some time to contemplate everything she had learned from the dragon. Most things were still hidden in murkiness form her, only for sure knowing that Van was in trouble and that Gaea was in danger again, but she was sure that everything would be clear once she talked with Merle.

'Things are sure strange Hitomi,' she thought to herself as they flew closer to Arzas. ' Escaflowne's a talking dragon, Van's missing, and I'm going to Merle for information…nothing is ever normal with me is it? Oh, I hope I find out what's wrong here soon…'

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It was another dark day in the capital of Zaibach as a black-robed creature glided down a hallway of the enormous palace that housed the emperor of the new Zaibach Empire. It spoke to nothing, because nothing wanted to speak to it. It was one of the Ferra, mysterious beings that aided the emperor and the armies of Zaibach, but beings that were not human in any way. They were cold creatures, cloaked in darkness and shrouded in mysteries, mysteries that not one person of the Zaibach empire wanted to solve.

Because of this, the unnamed Ferra was able to make its way unfettered, its mind deep in thought as it remembered the tremor that appeared in Gaea earlier that morning. It was an inconvenience that it could not afford, but one that it had not a clue on how to get near to. The legendary dragon was with her now…it would need to be patient. Nothing was going to interfere with the plans its kind had placed in motion all those years ago, not even the infamous seeress from the Mystic Moon.

" Zorbane!" a booming voice said from behind the Ferra named Zorbane. " I want to know why you felt compelled to send a troop of my Elitists out to an unimportant city in the north! Am I not the Emperor of this empire? Those troops are needed in a more pertinent place, where unrest still breeds, a place like Draboch!"

" Lord Salodin," Zorbane answered in a hiss of deference as he bowed his robed form to the intimidating looking ruler ahead of him. " I am sorry to have acted without your consent, but I felt a tremor in Gaea near that area, a tremor that may be a potential threat. I understand your aggravation with the Black Rose, but this seemed like a wise choice to make, please forgive me impudence my Lord."

" Get up," Salodin said in disgust as he flicked his wrist and started to walk back towards his quarters, the Ferra following him. " You should be aiding me against that damn Fallan and his band of miscreants, not worrying over some "tremor" you felt with your black magic! However, I'll concede this time and let you do what you will, I just better get my Elitists back before we obliterate the Black Rose!"

Zorbane watched in mild amusement as the large man stormed off, meeting his advisors at the end of the hall, the man's long black hair flapping every which way in his anger. The Ferra turned around and softly headed back towards his original destination, an old abandoned part of the palace that once housed Dornkirk's Fate Alteration Machine. He was not concerned about the Emperor's anger towards him, knowing all too well that Salodin lacked the power or support to oppose him or his brethren.

Once he arrived in the large and ancient room, Zorbane lowered his cowl to reveal the unearthly features concealed underneath. The skin was pale and stretched across the bone, the slits of black for the eyes and black lips the only color on his face. He was a nightmare straight out of the monster stories, a monster that cared for nothing but power. His scabbed and clammy hands rested on the broken and musty machine that sat in the middle of the room, and he let out a mirthless chuckle, something that would have frightened even the bravest of men into small boys.

" Hitomi Kanzaki," he hissed to himself as he pictured what he had detected that morning. " Poor child, the world you knew is not what it is now. You should not have been able to return, and yet, somehow you have…bravo little girl. I wonder if you will wish to remain here once you have discovered what is really in store for you…"

He chuckled again, his hissing voice sounding deadly in the cavernous room, before he swept back on his cowl and proceeded to walk back to the Emperor. He needed to be informed of certain things after all, but not of everything.

" Just wait Salodin," Zorbane hissed quietly to himself as he shut the door on the forgotten room where fate had once been decided. " The time of humans is coming to an end…and I'll be sure to let you be among to first to realize it. Once the Key is in our hands, this world and the world of the Mystic Moon will be under our control."

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" Are we almost there Escaflowne?" Hitomi yelled as the white dragon took another dive to avoid a gust of wind in the clouds. " I don't know how much more I can take of this!"

" _Yes child, we are almost there. Now, I cannot accompany you into the city, I am a bit to conspicuous. I will await your call in a nearby forest, and you can contact me by using your pendant. Remember your vision and you will find what we need to find Merle, do you understand?"_

" Yes," Hitomi gritted out as Escaflowne took another dive, this time not leveling back out, but plummeting towards the forested ground below. She felt like she was on some type of terrifying roller-coaster, one that did not seem to end, so she screwed her eyes shut, wishing that it would be over soon. Sure enough, she felt a slight shudder as the white dragon landed on the ground with a slight THUDD. She slid off its back, feeling slight inertia in her legs after sitting on the dragon for the entire morning, and looked up at the big maroon eyes gazing down at her kindly.

" Thank you," Hitomi said with a dazzling smile as she hugged Escaflowne around the neck. " Thanks for not letting me fall."

" _I could not allow that child. My master would be most upset with me if I was to let that happen. I promise you young seeress, I will make sure nothing happens to you on this quest. I will protect you like Van would."_

" You know what?" Hitomi asked quietly as she let the presence that reminded her of Van warm and calm her soul. " I feel as if he's here right now, you were such an integral part of him. I think we can really do this Escaflowne…we will find him!"

The dragon looked at her, appreciation filling its eyes and nodded its majestic head at her words in agreement. _" Hitomi, the town is right through the clearing ahead. Your clothes look a bit unusual, but as long as you do not draw attention to yourself, it will be all right. If you should get into trouble, call to me with the pendant and I will come. Be careful child."_

" I will," Hitomi said with a determined gleam in her bright emerald orbs. She turned on her heel and set off through the clearing towards the town of Arzas.

It didn't take her nearly as long as she thought t would, her path completely cleared for her as she trudged towards the small city, which she could see immediately after clearing the trees. It looked like a trading town from first glance, and the closer Hitomi came to it the more she came to believe that. She was able to walk in relatively unnoticed into the town; she had used her graduation robe to make a cloak of sorts to hide her clothes from the townsfolk. She had been expecting to find a happy little hamlet here, hidden away from most of the larger cities of Gaea, but instead she had found a town that seemed to be I fear and on edge. Her smiles were met with hollow stares of downtrodden people, and before long, she found their gloom settling into her.

' What's happened here?' Hitomi thought to herself as she walked past a butcher shop, her eyes filling with pity for these poor people she saw. ' It's like they have lost their sparkle of life…their will to live. What's wrong with all of them?'

She paused at a flower stand, admiring the only bright things in the town, when a young boy tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a pink and white pansy. He smiled shyly at her and mumbled softly, " You're really pretty," before he took back off, sprinting down the street and leaving Hitomi standing there. She smiled and tucked the flower behind her longer, brown hair and turned back around to find a large soldier wearing a modified Zaibach uniform in front of her. She gave a small gasp and backed away quickly, only to find the soldier's arm snake out just as fast and grasp her arm.

" Little lady," the soldier said in a leering voice, his eyes roaming down her frame and back up to her frightened face. " Where you heading off to? Me and friends would be happy to guide you there."

" Uh," Hitomi said nervously, her eyes darting to and fro looking for help that was not there. " Why do you think I would need a guide? I've lived here almost my whole life you know. I know how to find my way to the…to the blacksmith just fine."

" Why would a pretty thing like you need to go to the blacksmith?" the soldier enquired further, a suspicious tone to his drunken voice now.

" Oh, I'm picking up something for my father," Hitomi lied quickly, her own voice getting higher as he grasped her arm tighter. " He's ill you see, asked if I would pick up an order of horseshoes he placed last week. Please, I need to get them now."

" Oh I don't think so little lady," the soldier said with a humorless grin, pulling out his sword form his scabbard. " You seem mighty strange to me, I think I better take you to see the Captain."

" No please!" Hitomi exclaimed, pulling against his hold as he started to drag her away. She felt so helpless, not being able to protect herself for that long at all, but she didn't want to call Escaflowne and risk his safety. She felt her free hand grasp her pendant tightly, hoping that it would show her an answer to help her out of this predicament.

" HEY!" a high, angered voice yelled out, causing both Hitomi's and the soldiers' heads to whirl around. " You stupid soldiers let her go! She said she knew where she's going, and doesn't need your help, so leave her alone! If you don't, I WILL tell theCaptain about this…what time would this be for you boys? Three, four times now? Let her go now."

The soldiers grumbled among them for a minute or two before they signaled the one grasping Hitomi's arm to let her go. He did so, grudgingly albeit, and murmured to Hitomi quietly, " I'll be keeping my eyes on you girl…better keep that little cat-thing around you next time," and then left as quickly as he had appeared with his fellow soldiers.

" Wow, you sure are stupid, not many girls would let themselves get cornered by the Zaibach Elitists. 'Father sent me to the blacksmith' honestly, it's not even a good lie."

" Well I-" Hitomi started to argue back, until she saw just who she was about to argue with. In front of her was a short, cat girl with white fur and black hair. Her paw-like hands were resting on her hips, and her light blue eyes were peering at Hitomi curiously. She looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, and looked an awful lot like, " Merle!"

" What did you call me?" the cat girl asked dangerously, her teasing demeanor gone in an instant, and her paws now showing claws against Hitomi's face. " How do you know Merle? Are you a Zaibach spy, talk now!"

" N-no," Hitomi answered shakily, her hand now gripping her pendant again for reassurance. " I'm not a spy…you just looked like her is all. I'm an old friend of hers, I'm actually looking for her. Can you help me, my name is Hitomi Kanzaki, I'm sure she would remember me."

The cat girl backed off her slowly, confusion now marring the anger in her face. She was looking at Hitomi as if she had just seen a ghost, but then she finally lowered her arms back to her sides, a sign to the brown-haired seeress of peace. " Did you say your name is Hitomi Kanzaki?"

" Yes!" Hitomi said happily that the cat girl understood her. " I'm so glad I fou--"

" Not so loud stupid," the girl hissed as she clamped a hand over Hitomi's mouth and dragged her back into an alleyway, hidden from the streets. " Do you want every soldier in the Zaibach empire to hear you! Geez…you must be that girl from the Mystic Moon. Why do you need to see Merle?"

" Because," Hitomi said as she spat out fur from her mouth. " I was told she could tell me what happened to Van and Gaea."

" King Van Fanel of Fanelia!" the girl asked in a breathless voice, her blue eyes wide with hope.

" Yes, why are you--"

" Never mind," the cat girl interrupted as she started to lead Hitomi through the alleyway, finding crevices and passages that were hidden from Hitomi's sight. " By the way, my name is Sari…where do I need to take you?"

" Um, the forest," Hitomi said in a confused voice as Sari led her down a right passageway. " A friend is waiting for me there…if you tell him or maybe her where to go, we'll get to Merle much faster!"

" All right," Sari said in a distracted tone as she continued to lead Hitomi through winding paths and tunnels. In hardly no time at all, Hitomi found herself outside the town once more and on the cusp of the forest. Sari gave the green eyed girl a smug face and said, " Well, here we are… a lot faster than if you led the way I'm sure. Where do we go now?"

" Uh, this way," Hitomi said, pointing left after consulting her pendant for a moment. The two girls walked in silence for a while, Hitomi feeling Sari's eyes on her every now and then as if she was making sure she was who she said she was. " By the way," Hitomi said after she felt uncomfortable from all of Sari's stares. " How did you know all those passages threw the city? I couldn't even see them."

" Well," the cat girl said in a superior tone that annoyed Hitomi. " I HAVE lived there most of my life…you have to learn to avoid the Zaibach bastards when you're a beast person, or else you can get into trouble. It's stupid girls like you that I spend my time helping out, not that any of them ever say thank you."

" Oh," Hitomi said softly, feeling sorry that people like Merle and this Sari were still mistreated in Gaea. She was instantly reminded of Naria and her twin Eriya. This girl, Sari, reminded her of Naria, she certainly was pretty enough, but it was her attitude that plucked up the image of the silver cat woman in Hitomi's mind. It was then that Hitomi saw her tail.

It was severed halfway down, leaving an ugly scar of flesh covering the wound where no fur grew. Hitomi felt the light-headed feeling straight away, and suddenly her image was filled with what she had seen a day ago at her graduation, except, it only showed the shadow of a cat girl, one whose sadness was cloaked under a mask of happiness, and a severed tail, both spiritual and actual.

" Hitomi?" Sari asked as the seeress swooned, grabbing one of her arms to support her. " Are you okay? You look kind of sick."

" I'm fine Sari," Hitomi said as she steadied herself with Sari's help. " I just…I just saw something is all."

" So you really can see things?" Sari asked, a contemplative look crossing her features. " I thought that part was just a legend…I guess not."

" Just a legend?" Hitomi asked in annoyance. " It's not like it's been that long since I was last here. Okay, so it has been two years, but that's not that long when you think about it."

" TWO YEARS!" Sari exclaimed, causing Hitomi to jump in alarm at the cat girl's sudden change. " What are you talking about! It's been a lot lo--"

Sari was interrupted from her tirade when Escaflowne's white form glided in front of the two girls, a warning look shooting at Sari's frozen form.

" _Hitomi needs to speak with Merle young cat. I ask that you tell me where we might find her so I can take you both there as soon as possible."_

" Uh," Sari stuttered, astonished that she was speaking with a beautiful white dragon with deep maroon eyes. " Our village of Jeroma is on the other side of this forest, to the west of Azras, towards Maboch. It's nestled next to a lake, I can navigate us there."

" _Thank you child. Hitomi, help Sari onto my back and we will be off. I'd rather not tarry around Azras longer than needs be."_

" Okay" Hitomi said in a daze, so confused about what was going on, but deciding to keep it to herself for the moment. She helped a reluctant and nervous Sari onto Escaflowne's back before mounting herself, and told the cat girl to wrap her arms around the dragon's neck tight before wrapping her own arms around the girl's middle. The take-off wasn't as bad this time for Hitomi, and she spent most of the ride distractedly comforting a near hysterical Sari, but her thoughts mulling over the information both revealed and kept hidden to her.

' What is going on here? What the heck is Maboch, and why did Sari flip when I said I'd only been gone for two years? Has it been longer than that! Oh, I hope Merle really can answer some of my questions…and tell me some sort of hint as to where Van is…'

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**A/N: **There it is guys! Told you I don't know how to write shorter chapters, and this wasn't even a long one! I hoped you guys likey! The next chapter will reveal what the hell has happened in Gaea, and give hints as to what happened to our dearest Van!

Did you guys like Sari, I tried to make her similar to Merle…I liked writing her character!

Remember, review, review, review! Until next time!

Osco


	4. A Hundred Years

**A/N: **Hello again readers! Thanx for all y'all who reviewed the last chapter, I'm happy everyone likes long chapters, because there are some doozies in this fic, let me tell you! Sorry for the wait, I've been focusing on my math class right now…there is a lot more work in college than in high school when it comes to basic algebra! So, yeah sorry again, I'll TRY to be better.

Oh, and I also do not own the song, "Light in Your Eyes," by Blessid Union of Souls, they do. It just happens to be on Hitomi's I-pod as well ! Enjoy this chapter!

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**Key to Atlantis:**

**Chapter 3: A Hundred Years…**

Hitomi lost track of how long both she and the cat-girl, Sari, had spent on Escaflowne's back, flying through the air like a knife and flowing with the air current as a plane on Earth would. It was not that she didn't want to talk with the black-haired girl, but every time Hitomi opened her mouth the words seemed to die on her tongue, the girl's probing gaze and angry expression deterring the seeress from speaking. She stole a quick glance back at the stiff cat, and saw the anger that radiated back at her from those blue eyes, accusing Hitomi of an offense that she should have been able to stop.

'I don't even know what I did,' Hitomi thought to herself sadly as she turned forwards again to stare sadly at Escaflowne's white neck. 'Why does she hate me so much? I just met her…and she seems to know what's going on in Gaea, but she won't tell me. Neither of them will…maybe Merle will answer my questions. Wow, I can't believe I just thought that, Merle helping ME out! Yea, that'll happen.'

"_Children,"_ a voice said gently, shocking both Hitomi and Sari out of their ponderings. _"We are approaching the village of Jeroma; I suggest that you both hold on tight so we may descend."_

"Okay!" Hitomi shouted as she tightened her arms around the dragon's strong neck. She winced slightly as Sari gripped her midriff for dear life, but soon forgot that pain as Escaflowne dove, the swooping sensation in her stomach taking full attention. She could hear Sari's terrified yowls and whimpers the entire descent, but Hitomi did not feel as scared as before, deciding that the dragon must have been truthful when it said she would grow accustomed to the flying as she had before. All that was missing was…

"There!" Sari yelped loudly in Hitomi's ear, signaling the dragon where to land. "That patch of clear land, land there you stupid dragon!"

Hitomi thought she saw Escaflowne smile slightly at Sari's insult at its intelligence as the dragon landed gracefully on the ground and folded its wings to let the passengers off. While Hitomi was able to slide off better than before, Sari rolled off clumsily and landed in a pile on the ground, muttering that she was never going to fly on a dragon's back again.

"I thought cats always landed on their feet," Hitomi teased as she helped Sari up, a smile dancing in her green orbs.

"Are you trying to pick a fight you stupid girl!" Sari replied angrily, shoving the other girl away and brushing herself off. Not waiting for an answer, Sari impatiently pointed and shouted, "This way you two. Oh, and you have to walk behind me, or else the clan will think you're prisoners, and they don't treat prisoners all that well these days. Well come on!"

Letting the white cat-girl lead the way through the trees and into the small settlement, Hitomi fell into step beside the white dragon, letting its presence calm her nerves. She had no idea what to expect from Merle after two years, the two were never that great of friends to begin with, and now she was going to her for help to find Van.

Escaflowne looked down at her and smiled with its kind maroon eyes and said, _"Do not fret child, all will be well with the cat-woman. She did think of you as a friend, she just was a little protective of my master. Your questions should be answered here today seeress, and I must tell you this…you may not like what you receive. As I said, many things have changed since your last visit here…many things indeed_."

Hitomi nodded quietly, trying to focus on quelling the growing trepidation in her heart, and reached out to gently pet Escaflowne's smooth scales. Sari led the other two into the village after a short period of time, and Hitomi smiled albeit the dread she felt in her heart as she saw the community of beast folk come into view. It was drastically different from the previous village of Arzas, smiling children running through the streets and smiles with kind gazes meeting them from every corner.

As the trio ventured further into town, Hitomi could notice the excited pointing and whispering as she passed, piquing her curiosity even more as to why the village of Jeroma was so excited to see her. She nearly ran into Sari, she was caught up with the sights and cheers the beast people were emitting, who was conversing with another trio, this one comprised of older and wise looking cat folk in front of a hut.

"So, you say that this girl claims to be Hitomi Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon?" Hitomi heard one of them ask Sari excitedly.

"That's what she says," Sari said with a shrug. "The dragon…Escaflowne confirms this. She wants to speak with Merle; apparently she doesn't have a clue on what's happened in Gaea since her absence."

Hitomi scowled for a moment at Sari's comment, but quickly pushed the annoyance aside to pay attention once more to the conversation. As she started to listen to Sari tell of their encounter, Hitomi felt a tug at her skirt and looked down to find a group of young kittens looking up at her in awe.

"Are you weally the seewess fwom the Mystic Mwoon?" a little male kitten asked, his big brown eyes round with wonder.

"Uh, yes," Hitomi said with a kind smile as she knelt down to look at the child face to face. "My name is Hitomi, what's yours?"

The little boy-kitten merely blushed and scampered away, the rest of the children following him back into the crowds towards their parents without a doubt. Hitomi, confused at their behavior, adopted a look of puzzlement as she rose and stood next to Escaflowne. 'Why does everybody treat me as if I'm a legend or something? This is so bizarre…what's going on?'

"Hitomi Kanzaki of the Mystic Moon," one of the elder beast folk addressed to her, drawing her attention back out of her thoughts. "You say you wish to talk with Elder Merle did you not?"

"Uh…yes," Hitomi answered slowly, wondering why this man had called Merle an elder. "Yes please, I was told by Escaflowne, the white dragon, that she would be able to help me find King Van Fanel of Fanelia."

She was startled to hear the cries of surprise and wonder that met with her last comment, but the man in front of her remained still as a statue as he then asked, "You seek Van Fanel child? It would seem that Sari was correct when she deemed you unknowledgeable in Gaea's history…I concede to your request and deem that you indeed must speak to Merle. Sari will lead you and Escaflowne to her."

"Thank you," Hitomi mumbled, seething at Sari for calling her 'unknowledgeable' to the whole village. Sari motioned for them to follow so they did in silence, Hitomi still aware of the whispers and pointing that followed her all the way to a small hut in the center of the village. Hitomi glanced up at Escaflowne in worry as Sari entered the hut saying she would fetch Merle, but was calmed by its ever kind gaze towards her.

"Hitomi Kanzaki," a voice that the girl vaguely recognized rasped from in front of her, bringing Hitomi's attention back to Sari and a small, hunched form next to her. "It's about time you showed up you stupid girl…how would I have slapped you for getting close to Lord Van if I was dead?"

"Merle…?" Hitomi asked breathlessly, gazing at the form before her, not believing what she saw what looking back at her.

"What?" Merle rasped in a scratchy tone as she hobbled forward with her walking stick, her wrinkled eyes narrowing in a sick amusement. "Did you expect I'd look good at seventy-nine years old Hitomi?"

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"Are you saying that the mythical seeress from the accursed Mystic Moon has reappeared on Gaea?" Emperor Salodin asked the Ferra gathered in front of him, a grim expression spreading across his hawk-like face. His dark, inky black eyes narrowed when the cloaked forms nodded their heads in assent, and he placed two thick fingers to his temple. "She was supposed to have just been a legend, but now she's real and back on Gaea…didn't she fight alongside Allen Schezar and the Draconian king?"

"Yes my lord," Zorbane hissed, his head bowing towards the emperor. "Our many auguries have confirmed this. The legendary dragon Escaflowne accompanies her, and it seems that she is looking to rid Gaea of the just Zaibach Empire as she did before with her dark power to see into the unknown."

"Is that all you can tell me you worthless bunch of monsters!" Salodin asked angrily, his frustrations finally breaking through at the stoic Ferra. "I could have told you what she was planning on doing! How do you stop her is what I want to know!"

"We cannot see that my lord," another Ferra said as he stepped next to the kneeling Zorbane and also dropped to one knee. "However, we believe we know where she might be headed…Maboch. It would be prudent to send a company of Ferra to go and capture her, if it pleases you my lord."

"Kul'sac," Salodin said to the new Ferra. "You really believe I would send only your kind out to capture this girl? I want her dead dammit! To ensure this, I'm going to send a quatrain of my Elitists to accompany the Ferra you send. I want my Ghost to command them as well."

"As you wish my lord," both Zorbane said in deference as they bowed low to the floor. Salodin cast them one last look of contempt before sweeping from the chamber, claiming to have other important matters to attend to. Zorbane and Kul'sac rose form the floor and dismissed the other Ferra before also leaving the room in a sweep of their cloaks.

"Zorbane," Kul'sac hissed to his leader in an unsure tone. "The arrival of the girl does not bode well for us. That, and now Salodin wishes to send the Ghost after her as well…we both know of what she seeks."

"Yes, we do," Zorbane said without worry as they turned a corner into a dark study lighted in a reddish-haze. "But we can use this girl to our advantage Kul'sac. We did not expect the Key to be sent away as well, it seems her protection still lingered around it, and now she will be sent to look for it, to keep it from us. I will send De'miraz and select others to accompany the Ghost and Elitists in search of the girl and the Escaflowne. She will be able to control those humans, no matter what the Ghost may be."

"Yes Lord Zorbane," Kul'sac said with a strange hand motion to his brow in respect. "I will go and inform the emperor of this and contact De'miraz at once."

Zorbane nodded as Kul'sac left to fulfill his leader's wishes, and then turned his attention to the room he was in. It scared the other tenants of the palace, but it suited the Ferra perfectly for a place to meditate and practice their art. It had once been the experimentation room of the Zaibach sorcerers under Dornkirk, but now it was where the Ferra cast off their disguises and reveled in the greatness they thought to possess. Zorbane thought it ironic that the Ghost had been created here so long ago, from one of the purest beings no less, and now the Ferra used it to hide their true intents from the world of Gaea. Zorbane continued to walk down the hallways of the large chamber, enjoying the blood-tinted light the red torches cast upon the walls, until he reached a small study room lined with notes upon notes on the lost city of Atlantis, collected from various historians and ancient texts over the years.

To regain the power of Atlantis, that was what the Ferra were after, but Zorbane had no intention of repeating the same mistake Dornkirk and many before had made. The power of Atlantis, the power of human will and thought, could not be controlled through any simple means, such as a Fate Alteration Machine, it needed to be controlled just as the instruction manual said it had to be.

"All these scrolls and texts have all been telling us the same thing," Zorbane said in fervent whisper as he poured over the notes for a countless time. "They all tell me what I need to control and harness the power of Atlantis! The seeress is of no immediate consequence…but she may be more useful than she may want to be very soon. The vessel will fall into my hands one more… 'Of two worlds, but part of neither…Chosen line shall bear the Jewel…' It's all right here! Soon, very soon, all of Gaea and even the Mystic Moon…Earth…will shiver at the power the Ferra will wield! Whoever thought such an abomination would end up being so useful to our cause."

He cackled a little bit before turning his attention back to the scrolls, back to the information that would make him a God on Gaea. Everything was going according to a plan he had conceived over a hundred years ago…everything would end up as he wished.

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_I feel…I feel strange. I can feel her pain and suffering, and I don't even know who she is. At least I think I don't…I don't know anything anymore. Did I ever before? It was quiet until just recently; I have no concept of time though so how would I even know that? No…it was just a little bit ago, I'm sure of it…then she came and…I don't really know._

_I can still feel the same burning sensation in my…mind? No, maybe my soul. I don't know that either. Am I even talking to anything else? Maybe just myself, trying to tell myself I'm still real, even though a rational part of me knows I'm not. The brain is telling me to give in, to quit this charade I'm keeping up…but my heart…or my soul I guess…that tells me to not give up just yet…to keep this up through the pain I'm constantly in, not exactly physical but pain nonetheless._

_My heart tells me that there is someone waiting for me, and that I'm waiting for that person…is that true or am I just delusional?_

_No, she is sad now…maybe I'm waiting for her. I don't want her to be sad, that causes more pain than the cloaked things I see when I…when I…when I'm not talking to myself I guess. Don't cry girl, it will all be okay._

_It will all be okay? What am I saying? I don't know anything, how can I comfort her when I can't even convince myself I'll be real again…if I ever was. Yes…I was, I can feel it when I feel her emotions. I hope she isn't sad for much longer…I wish I could tell her that…tell her what? That seems familiar…maybe I've just repeated myself recently…oh, I hope she stays awhile longer. I hear them whispering again, but for some reason, this time it doesn't scare me. Is it because of you…is it because of the girl I keep feeling? Maybe, but all I know is that, for the first time since I don't know when, I feel…_

…

…

_I feel at peace._

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Hitomi was much to shocked to say, or do anything for that matter, for what seemed to stretch out for eternity; she simply stared at the old and wizened cat woman in front of her. She was not ancient looking, which surprised Hitomi when Merle had said she was ninety-nine years old, but she still looked old. The once pink hair was now completely white, and the brown fur covering her body had many streaks of gray through it. Wrinkles of both age and experience covered her face and body, still reflecting the beauty she had once possessed but had lost somewhat from time, and her eyes now had lost the once trademark innocence they held when Hitomi was last on Gaea. They were reflecting such an incredible amount of pain…pain of war and loss.

"Are you going to just stare at me Hitomi?" Merle said in a voice that still held her youthful tenor but was deepened and matured. She flashed a grin, exposing now missing teeth gaps that now joined her other white ones. "You did that when you first came here…remember?"

"Of course I remember Merle," Hitomi snapped, still shocked at what she was looking at she forgot just what she was looking at. "It wasn't that long ago…I mean, look at me!"

"And look at me Hitomi Kanzaki," Merle said in a serious voice Hitomi had never heard her use before. "Time has passed differently here than it did on your world…things have changed so much…I was beginning to think you'd never come. But, here you are! With Escaflowne no doubt…I haven't seen him for forty years, not since I first came here."

"Merle I…" Hitomi started to say, realization sinking in as her rational part of the brain began to register what her heart had known since she had first met Escaflowne. She tried to stop the tears from spilling, but she just couldn't find the strength, so she let loose all of her feeling right there, sinking to the ground in a heap and letting the sobs shake her body. Everything suddenly seemed so horrible, so horrible and too much for a seventeen, well nearly eighteen, year old to deal with. She was so absorbed in her own misery, her own 'why me's', that she didn't notice Merle walk over next to her until she felt a stinging pain on her cheek.

"Stop crying Hitomi," Merle said sadly, locking her deep brown eyes with the other girl's bright green ones. "I know you're upset, I was too when all this first started happening, but you sitting there crying in the dirt isn't going to help anyone…especially not Lord Van. You have a great power, so use it and stop moping around."

Hitomi stared back at Merle for a moment, her free right hand reaching up and cupping her red cheek, and then she sighed sadly, slowly pushing herself up off the ground. She glanced over at Escaflowne, the big maroon eyes showing sympathy towards her but also encouraging her to show strength and remember what she came here to do, even if what she learned pained her. She looked back at Merle and nodded her head, a grim determination hardening her bright green eyes, and said quietly, "Merle, I need to know what's happened since I…since I was last here. Escaflowne and I are looking for Van, but I need to know where to go, and I think you can help me."

"I knew you would come for him Hitomi," Merle said with a wily grin as she turned slowly and started to hobble with her walking stick back towards her hut. "Well, no ones getting younger are they? Come on in, I'll let you in on sixty-six years of history you missed. Sari, I think you should hear this too dear."

"But Grandma," Sari protested, her eyes blazing in anger that reminded Hitomi of Merle so much. "I need to head back towards Arzas; those soldiers may tell people about this girl. Besides, I've heard these stories a million times."

"They are not stories Sarisim," Merle replied in a dangerous tone. "I want you to hear them again, this time with someone who was there for part of it and who played an integral role as well.

Sari stared back stonily at Merle, the woman she called her grandmother, but then nodded her head stiffly and marched quickly into the hut, not looking at Hitomi at all. The young woman looked over at the elder cat woman, who was now shaking her head, and asked with her eyes about what the cat-girl had called her.

"In a way," Merle answered as she walked back to the hut, motioning Hitomi and Escaflowne to follow her. "I took her in as my own when her parents died ten years ago. They were killed by the Ferra, but you don't know about them yet do you? No, of course you don't, but I'll fill you in on those in due time."

Hitomi looked back at Escaflowne before entering the hut, asking with her face where he was going to be while she was inside. The white dragon smiled at her with his big, warm eyes and said softly, _"I will be just outside child, do not worry. I will not leave you…ask questions whenever you have one; you cannot afford to not know everything you can before we start this journey. Stay strong young seeress."_

"I will Escaflowne," Hitomi whispered as she gave the white dragon one last hug for comfort and then walked into the hut. "I will for Van."

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"So," Merle said as she settled in a large chintz chair and waited for both Sari and Hitomi to do so as well. She gestured to a small girl kitten to go and get some drinks for the others and her, and then cleared her voice and continued, "Where should we start Hitomi?"

"Um," Hitomi said unsurely, wringing her hands in her hands and mumbling a thank you to the little kitten giving her a drink. She raised her eyes to look back at the brown, calm eyes looking back at her patiently and shrugged her shoulders in agreement with whatever Merle thought was best.

"Very well," Merle said after she took a sip of her hot tea. "Let's start with the end of the Destiny Wars shall we? After you left, things went smoothly…very smoothly in fact, and all the different provinces rebuilt themselves and trade began again between the countries, including a reformed Zaibach led by the former General Adelphos. He was a good leader, and it seemed the only thing Lord Van had to worry about in Fanelia was picking a princess to marry."

"WHAT!" Hitomi asked loudly, positively seething at the smirk on both Merle's and Sari's face at her anger.

"Relax you stupid girl," Merle answered with a wave of her hand. "He was completely stubborn about it and was engaged only once, but somehow both he and that particular princess wormed their way out of it. Can I please continue with my story?"

"Uh, yes Merle," Hitomi mumbled, her cheeks now red with embarrassment as she heard Sari snort in laughter to the side. Hitomi looked over and shot the cat-girl a look and asked rudely, "Why are laughing so hard! It's not that funny!"

"Sorry _Hitomi,_" Sari drawled in between he guffaws. "But, it is very funny. You're in love with a legend? I think that the kittens are playing make-believe today at midday!"

"SARI!" Merle exclaimed angrily, shocking the cat-girl quiet and causing her to lower her head in shame. "Please, keep your opinions to yourself for once in your life!" She paused for a moment and tried to assuage Hitomi's shock and obvious fright at what Sari had said by flashing her a smile and saying kindly, "He's not a legend Hitomi, you know this and so do I. If you give me some time, I can explain everything…can both of you just listen to my tale and keep your questions until I am done?"

When both of the girls nodded, Merle took another sip of her tea, cleared her throat again, and looked back at the others continuing with, "Good. Now, there was peace throughout all of Gaea for two years after the Destiny Wars, but there were whispers of the former Zaibach scientists tinkering with dark forces and unleashing imprisoned spirits or some nonsense, but the rulers of Asturia, Fried, and Fanelia along with others decided to keep an eye out for these apparitions. Sure enough…I'm not sure completely what happened because it was all so sudden, like when Fanelia was attacked the first time. Lord Van had just turned eighteen and…these things came and attacked Fanelia's capitol and the surrounding villages and provinces. They used dark magic, and I don't know if they were even alive, but they were ruthless and destroyed everything.

"Lord Van…Lord Van fought them to give the citizens time to evacuate, but this one cloaked thing, the leader I think, he fought with this blue stuff and hurt Lord Van. One of his wings broke underneath him then, and more of those things surrounded him…they created some kind of pillar of white light and it enveloped him…I heard him scream your name Hitomi and then…and then he was gone."

"Dead?" Hitomi whispered, dread filling her voice and tears filling her vision as she remembered the dream she had a few nights ago…it had been a vision after all.

"NO!" Merle said angrily. "No, Hitomi…he disappeared. That light swept him somewhere away from here…those monsters seemed angry though, and left immediately afterwards. The survivors traveled to Asturia and Freid for refuge, but no one believed our story…they thought Zaibach had betrayed the Alliance again. That's when…that's when the Ferra started to show up in Zaibach, and they convinced Emperor Adelphos that all of Gaea was planning on attacking Zaibach. The Ferra joined Zaibach and began taking over Gaea again…no one could stand up against them though because those Ferra…_they are what destroyed Fanelia!_"

"What!" both Hitomi and Sari exclaimed at Merle's declaration.

"Yes, I only told certain people that…Allen Schezar, Millerna Aston, Dryden Fassa, Duke Chid and a few others. Those who were close to Lord Van, so it's appropriate that I tell you Hitomi. Sari, now do you believe me and my 'tales' I told you? The Ferra were what destroyed Fanelia, made Lord Van disappear, and took over Zaibach in order to control Gaea…those scientists of Dornkirk's let them loose from wherever they were to begin with. They were called Arref, but changed their name so no one would believe the very few survivors of Fanelia…some little back-wash country that was surrounded by Dragons.

"Anyway, Zaibach started to attack all of Gaea, meeting almost no opposition from anyone. Asturia fell after ten years of struggle…Dryden died in Asturia, but was able to smuggle Millerna and their young daughter out of the country and to Freid, where Allen and the Crusade crew were. I was there too, Millerna died after a week, her wounds to grievous and coupled with her grief of Dryden's death, but she left a diary of the wars to her daughter, and the line still goes on today, but it's hidden. Allen was furious…it was about then that we found Escaflowne in the Dragon forests…we were there to hide from the Ferra after picking up refugees from Asturia.

"He was the one who gave us faith…he told us that for some reason he had been transformed into a dragon, but was waiting for you Hitomi to come again…you would be the one to go and find Lord Van! That meant that he was still alive, so we decided to try and discover as much as we could on where he might be so you would have an easier time whenever you came. Escaflowne also hinted to the time between the Mystic Moon and Gaea being disrupted, so we knew there was a good chance you wouldn't be as old as we were…which I guess is true.

"So, Freid and the last of the Alliance fought on for another five years or so…but then, but then Fried fell. Both Allen and Duke Chid fell in that battle, I don't know if Chid had a child or not so it is said that the line was killed off. Allen had sent me back with the Crusade to our outpost in the ruins of Fanelia…Millerna's daughter, Jessica, needed to be protected he told me. When I heard what had happened in Freid…Escaflowne comforted me and told me that I needed to wait for you to come… I needed to hide from the new Zaibach Empire and the Ferra. Those things purposely targeted those close to Lord Van to destroy…that's what made him a legend Hitomi and Sari, the people who knew the truth about him were killed.

"After a time, Jessica left and founded an underground resistance with her husband to fight off the Empire with the remaining members of the Crusade. It still exists today I think…it's called the Black Rose. I hear Emperor Salodin, the leader of Zaibach right now, is planning of eradicating them once and for all with some new weapon his Ferra have designed for him. But Fallan should be fine; he's one of the wiliest men I've ever met."

"Fallan?" Hitomi asked quietly, her mind trying to compute everything she had just learned…she refused to cry in front of Sari and Merle, she promised to be strong.

"He's the current leader of the Black Rose," Sari said in an uncharacteristic quiet voice, her eyes clouded over with conflicting emotions. "Fallan Fassa, great-grandson of Millerna and Dryden Fassa of Asturia."

"Oh," Hitomi said quietly, her mind spinning from everything still.

"Yes oh indeed," Merle said as she rose silently from her chair and gathered up the empty cups from her guests. "As far as I can guess, it would help to head towards him. He has all of Dryden's old manuscripts, and resources that can help us hide from Zaibach and the Ferra. Yes, I'll make arrangements tomorrow morning for supplies and maps and such."

"Wait," Sari said quickly, voicing what Hitomi was thinking as well. "WE? You're going Merle! But, but you're too…you're leg is hurt and can't take that much stress!"

"Then it's good that we have a dragon I can ride isn't it?" Merle asked back snappishly, glaring at the younger cat with a look Hitomi knew all too well. The green-eyed girl smiled and rose from her seat and nodded her head at Merle.

"Merle," Hitomi whispered quietly, determined to let the two cats know what she felt what had happened. "Sari as well, I want you both to know something. Just before I was sent back here to Gaea, I had a vision, a horrible vision that showed the destruction of Gaea and everything living here in a sense. The smoke and…and the blood choked me and I was terrified. But then, I had another vision, one that showed peace and prosperity here…but it needed help to keep it from fading.

"Who I saw was needed was a purple-eyed princess, a red-clothed man with an eye-patch, a warrior trapped in a cage and by his past, a red-eyed angel…Draconian who was lost, and a…a cat with a severed tail."

Hitomi waited as realization settled into both of the beast-women, Sari's blue eyes going round and Merle's twinkling in excitement that had been lost for so long. Sari looked around at the hideous scarred stump she had for a tail, staring at it as if just now realizing its true burden, and then slowly turned back to gaze stonily at Hitomi. "Did the vision mean me?"

"Yes, I think so," Hitomi answered quietly. "When I first touched your arm after seeing your tail, the vision took me again. I think both you and Merle need to come on this journey with Escaflowne and me. You see, I promised to protect Van, and I'm going to do just that by finding where he's been for so long. I owe that much to him for all the times he saved me."

Sari didn't say anything for a moment, merely stared at Hitomi with her deep blue orbs, until she gave her head a curt, but skeptical nod. She bowed at Merle in respect as she left the tent, saying she needed to start to gather supplies for the journey, and the door swung shut behind her. Hitomi sighed sadly, knowing it would take some time before Sari came to believe her and Merle about…about everything.

"You saw Lord Van didn't you?" Merle asked quietly before Hitomi completely left the hut, her face downcast to hide her spilling tears. "The red-eyed angel? That's what you always called him…did he look…"

"He looked young Merle," Hitomi said sadly as she left, whispering the last part to herself as she wandered off to find some solitude to deal with her grief. "Which is what confuses me."

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The wind teased her honey brown locks across her face, painting a sad portrait of a young girl who had lost too much in a short amount of time. A small set of headphones were inserted into each of her ears, blasting comforting music to sooth her conflicted soul as she stared up at the setting sun, remembering a time not that long ago to her when she sat on a similar hill and swapped stories with a raven haired boy. She didn't know what compelled her to play the song she was listening to, but as she listened and sang along softly to it, she felt that it fit her current state of mind perfectly.

"_I can't remember the last time that we kissed goodbye  
All our "I love you's" were just not enough to survive  
Something your eyes never told me  
But it's only now too plain to see  
Brilliant disguise when you hold me  
And I'm free"_

She had never told him how she felt…she had admitted it to herself, but she had never told him. Did he even still care about her wherever he was? She refused to believe he was dead, her mind rebuffing anymore deaths of people she was so close too. She had kissed another man, but not the one she was truly in love with…what was wrong with her and the world she had grown to love so much?

"_I've been thinking and here's what I've come to conclude  
Sometimes the distance is more than two people can use  
But how could I have known girl  
It was time and not space you would need  
Darling tonight I could hold you and you would know  
But would you believe"_

Everything was so mixed up and topsy-turvy, she could hardly stand it. She wanted to scream at the sky in anger, picking its emptiness as a good candidate for her anger's outlet. Allen was dead, Millerna was dead, Dryden was dead, little Chid was dead, Van was missing, and Merle had grown old. Why had these horrible things happened to her friends? She had given up Tarot reading, and yet these things still happened, because of those black-cloaked creatures from her vision. This was not how she wanted to return to Gaea, this was not how she expected things to be.

"_There's a light in your eyes that I used to see  
There's a place in your heart where I used to be  
Was I wrong to assume that you were waiting for me  
There's a light in your eyes  
Did you leave that light burning for me"_

She wanted to be wrapped up in those strong arms again, she wanted to smell the fields again and wonder at the gleaming white feathers floating all around her. She wanted to press her lips to his and let her know how deep her feelings really went, even if she wasn't sure what all of those feelings meant yet. But he wasn't here waiting for her, and did she really expect him too? She had been prepared to give him up that night, why wouldn't he have as well? Tears flowed down her cheeks freely as she cried for all of her lost companions that she wasn't around to help.

"_Cards and phone calls and photograph pictures of you  
Constant reminder of all the things you get used to  
Is there a chance in hell or heaven  
That there's still something here to build on  
Or do you just pick up the pieces after they fall  
But after all  
There's a light in your eyes that I used to see  
And a song in the words that you spoke to me  
Was I wrong to believe in your melody  
There's a light in your eyes  
Did you leave that light burning for me?"_

Her voice was shaking now, but she didn't stop, she couldn't stop. Her tears were now spent, she had no more to shed, but she still gazed up sadly at the now starry-filled skies, not sure of how many times she had played this song on her I-Pod, not caring that her battery would soon die. She closed her bright green eyes and pictured his face again for the millionth time, when he looked the most beautiful to her. Strange to describe him as that, usually Allen was associated with that, but she had no other word for how she felt about him then.

The way his impossibly messy black hair framed his face when he had his head cocked to the side, looking at her with warmth. A small smile would grace his shy mouth, a great treasure that she was thrilled he gave only to her. His eyes would lose the coldness they usually harbored and fill with such warmth that she swore they glowed a warm golden-red color. He was always on Escaflowne, holding his hand for her, but he was fading now. She felt another fat tear flow down her smooth cheek as she reflected again on what she may have lost because of her foolishness.

"_Should I keep on waiting or does love keep on fading away  
Fading away  
It's been a while since I've seen you so how have you been  
Did you get my letter I wrote you, but I did not send  
I tried to call your old number  
But the voice that I heard on the phone  
I recognized but she told me the number was wrong"_

She wiped the tear away angrily, telling herself to stop moping around like a four year old and do something about the situation if she was so upset. She would help avenge her friends; she would help them by honoring their sacrifices and helping Gaea. She saw his face again in her mind, encouraging her with his small, gentle smile that reflected the soul he hid underneath the warrior façade. She promised to find him, even if she was met with the same fate she was met with when she found Merle, she owed that much…she needed to tell him how she felt.

That she loved him, even after all this time. He was her only, the sole person who understood her and reached into her soul. She knew that now, maybe too late, but all that counted at that moment was that she knew. She would not be afraid of what the future held in store for her…she would be strong for Van; she would find him just like he had that night on the track. Her eyes hardened, and she belted out the last verse of the song, letting all of her feeling come roaring out at once.

"_There's a light in my eyes but it's too bright to see  
And a pain in my heart where you used to be  
Guess I was wrong to assume that you were waiting here for me  
There's a light in your eyes  
Did you leave that light burning for me?"_

She would find him, no matter what that meant for her future, she believed that with all her heart and soul. She breathed heavily for a moment, letting the chilly air cool her heated frame, before turning around to see Escaflowne's maroon eyes gazing at her in appraisal, somehow knowing the transformation she had just undergone. She gave the white dragon a small smile and let it drape a wing over her as the two walked back towards the village of Jeroma to rest for their journey the next morning. She could hear the dragon humming the song she had just finished singing in her head, and she gave another beautiful smile and tightened her left hand over the pink amulet around her neck and sang softly along with the dragon as they stepped towards their uncertain destinies, for light or dark.

"_There's a light in my eyes but it's too bright to see  
And a pain in my heart where you used to be  
Guess I was wrong to assume that you were waiting here for me  
There's a light in your eyes  
Did you leave that light burning for me?"_

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**A/N: **There it is guys! I bet y'all have a ton of new questions now, but I assure you everything is going to end up according to the plan in my head! This most certainly IS VanxHitomi, you just have to give it some time. Sorry if some of you guys are sad I killed off most of the canons, they'll still be in the story, just as flashbacks…especially our fav fallen angel!

Anyone wondering about Celena?...evil grin…give me some time.

I gave a bunch of clues in this chapter, try and find them all, very anal readers will probably figure out some of my plot already, but not all of it I assure you! Remember, REVIEW! The button is right to your left readers! I love feedback! Until next time!

Osco


	5. Ghost From the Past

**A/N: **Okay, so sorry for the incredibly long wait. I had to update my Teen Titan fic so my readers wouldn't kill me and now finals are getting closer so I've been busy. But, here it is, the next chapter, and I hope y'all like it. If you guys are wondering about Van…well…he's around but not in a way you'd expect. I don't think this will really be all that long, even for me, and it's kind of filler, but there is good information here. Again, happy readings!

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**Key to Atlantis**

**Chapter Four: Ghost from the Past:**

He was staring at her again for another foolish reason, he knew it, but he could not seem to tear himself away from her sad profile. She sat on a cushioned ledge that was situated next to a large window that overlooked the Zaibach city of Bras'doch, her thin legs tucked underneath her lithe form in a dainty way. The long white dress she had on made her look like an angel, and she was playing with her long blue hair sadly, staring out over the city as if willing she was anywhere but there. She heaved another sad sigh and turned back to the cross-stitching of her family crest, a small frown forming between her eyebrows as she gazed at the half finished work with disdain flowing from her lilac eyes.

She fascinated him to say the least.

"Lord Dilandau," she spoke in her gentle voice, not looking up at him as she turned her face once again to the window. "I would appreciate it if you would not stare at me as if I was one of your experiments. It…discerns me to say the very least."

"Of course Princess," the silver-haired albino said in his familiar drawl as he swept his muscular form into a low, sweeping bow. "Forgive me; I just cannot bear to see you look so forlornly out the window…as if you are trying to figure out how to escape that is."

"I do not know what you are trying to insinuate Lord Dilandau," the aforementioned princess replied curtly as she rose from her seat to face his reddish-pink eyes with her lavender ones. "But I do know that you are beginning to pester me. Why do you not go and play soldier with your Elitists?"

"You cut me with your words Princess," Dilandau answered back, his cold voice dripping in sarcasm. "One so beautiful should do well to not sully her appearance with such rude comments. My! What would your dear father think?"

The blue-locked girl simply stared back for a moment before she averted her eyes from his mocking stare and began to walk away from the cold commander. However, she started as Dilandau's hand snaked around her wrist and drug her back to face him, any humor from his eyes gone and instead brimming with a calculating look that bordered on madness. When she tried to break free he pulled her closer with ease and lowered his mouth to her ear.

"Be careful _Princess_," Dilandau whispered in the shaking girl's ear. "You never know just who may be watching…or listening to what your mind hides."

He let go of her arm, and she glared at him one last time, trying to summon enough fierceness to make her look unfazed. Needless to say, she failed, whirled about quickly, and hurried down the hall back towards where Dilandau knew where her quarters. He gave a slight chuckle as he brought his hand which had gripped her up to his mouth and chewed on his index finger until he tasted the salty tang of blood. After so long on this land, he still thought she was one of the most fascinating beings he had ever came into contact with. He ended up so lost in his thoughts he did not notice the distinct presence of his most recent creators creep up on him until the clammy hand clapped him on the shoulder.

"What do you want Zorbane?" Dilandau asked, not needing to look to know who had touched him, knowing instinctively it was the leader of the Ferra. "I was busy having a most wonderful image of the lovely Princess Rynna. She would look quite nice drenched in her own blood…like a fallen angel…"

"Dilandau," Zorbane hissed, making eye contact with the mad eyes until they calmed down. "I have a most important task for you…more important than our little traitorous Princess. It involves something out of your past my dear boy…something that I think will interest you greatly."

"There is nothing from my past to interest me Zorbane," Dilandau hissed angrily, wrenching himself from the Ferra's cold grasp. "You made sure of that didn't you? You made sure I found my way through the Schezar girl's defenses…and you also made sure I would be as ageless as your filthy kind! But please, if you have an interesting task for me other than keeping an eye on King Valon's impudent little brat, then tell me, I'm all ears."

"Do recall the Destiny Wars?" Zorbane asked without waiting for an answer. "Of course you do, it was there that you were suppressed and Celena Schezar awoke once more. It was also the time of dragon and his…of his seeress. Well, even though the dragon is lost to us, it seems that the little seer from the Mystic Moon as finally returned to Gaea…returned to find the Dragon once more."

"VAN!" Dilandau shrieked, turning around to face a calm Zorbane. "HE'S STILL ALIVE!"

"It seems that would be the case," Zorbane said smoothly, inspecting something on his scabbed hands. "She is already accompanied by the legendary dragon and once Guymelef Escaflowne, and now the cat companion of the last King of Fanelia has also joined her. The Emperor feels that she is a threat to the Zaibach Empire, after all she did help topple Dornkirk's rule the last time she frequented these lands, and would like you to eliminate the problem."

Dilandau was quiet for a moment, even though his fury was aching to be released, and contemplated how Zorbane had delivered his order. It sounded as if he thought that the girl from the Mystic Moon should be apprehended, not outright killed, and the crazed commander had an inkling as to why. "Do you wish me to capture her and use her to lure Van Fanel out of hiding?"

"I wish you to capture her so that she may use her power not only to release the lost Fanelian King, but also to help aid the Ferra in conquering this world and the world of the Mystic Moon. I am sick of aiding these pathetic humans and humanoid creatures, and she may be the key to this world's undoing."

"If I do this, can I get Van?" Dilandau asked, the madness now practically brimming from his eyes, his voice now showing an obsession he had not let go of over the years.

"I will allow you to…play with the Halfling if you wish," Zorbane said mysteriously as he flicked a hand in annoyance towards the crazed young man. 'If not for his usefulness I would have been ridden of him long ago…' he thought to himself as he began to walk out of the room. 'His madness is too unstable to depend on, but he will be able to break that stubborn young King in a way none others could. Madness begets madness after all in these humans…'

"Oh will you?" Dilandau asked, breaking Zorbane out of his inner musings. "Just like that…after you all have been obsessing over the cursed Draconians for so long?"

"Why else would I have reawakened you?" Zorbane asked back in reply, his slits for eyes narrowing even more so. "If we do find the boy, I want someone who was…intimate with his former acquaintances to let him in on nearly seventy years of history he has missed. I just hope dear Celena won't interfere, Commander Dilandau."

"Celena Schezar is dead Zorbane," Dilandau hissed angrily, his own red eyes narrowing as well. "You and your Ferra made sure of that when you engineered me to never age…to never die; only I remain! Besides, what makes you think Van Fanel will even still be young? Won't he be some shriveled old man by now?"

"No," Zorbane said cryptically, once again sweeping from the room, a sign that the matter concerning Van Fanel's age was not the albino's concern. "Emperor Salodin expects you to join my legion of Ferra led by De'miraz with your select Elitists here in Bras'doch. I want that seeress to lead us to our hidden King, but I want her stopped after that. The feelings she has for the Halfling can be dangerous, and they can compromise many of the plans we have set in motion. Do you understand?"

"Of course Zorbane," Dilandau answered back with a mock bow and the drawl in his voice becoming more pronounced. Dilandau watched with hungry eyes the dark creature glide out of the room and disappear around the corner, his thoughts now filled with images of a lithe young man with shaggy black hair and maroon eyes covered in blood…and his own hands covered in that same blood. A macabre smile graced his thin lips as he walked out of the room and towards the training grounds King Valon had set up for his top-most Elitists here.

"Soon Van," he whispered to himself, his voice nearly cracking into a high pitched squeal in his excitement. "I'll see you very soon…you and your little seer my little dragon."

The staff of the castle and Zaibach soldiers did not question him as he passed by with a wild look in his eyes, cackling so manically it would send shivers down even a most brave person's spine.

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"So," Hitomi asked hesitantly as Merle, Sari, and herself trekked down a forest path towards a land that she had journeyed to once before with Allen Schezar. "This Maboch place used to be Asturia?"

"Yes already," Sari snapped back, obviously annoyed with the young woman from the Mystic Moon. "How many more times are you going to ask that question! It's starting to really get on my nerves."

"Well excuse me for not knowing anything about the new geography of Gaea miss kitty-cat," Hitomi snapped back, angered by the younger girl's rudeness. "Why did they even go and change the names anyhow?"

"So Zaibach could show how tough they are," Sari sighed back, as if anyone who was intelligent should know the answer. "For someone from the Mystic Moon you sure don't know a lot."

Hitomi was about to retort angrily when she remembered another cat-girl saying something very similar to her once before. She looked over at Merle, who was sitting comfortably on Escaflowne's smooth back, and smiled slightly at the smirk covering her old friend's aged face. "I guess so uh Merle?" Hitomi asked with a small giggle, recalling how startled she had been to see not only a fish man but and eagle-headed person as well pass her in the bazaar of Asturia her first time in Gaea.

Merle couldn't stop the laugh she had been holding in any longer and joined Hitomi in laughing over the past, leaving Sari to gaze at the two in a sort of amazement mixed with slight disbelief. The blue-eyed cat girl threw her arms up into the air and let out a moan of exasperation at her companions behavior, which only elicited more giggles from the laughing duo. It was a few moments before the two could calm down, mainly because Merle started to cough and was forced to stop, and the three once more fell into a silent walk along side the ever-silent Escaflowne.

"_Child,"_ Escaflowne spoke suddenly to Hitomi, shocking the young girl so bad she gave a small yelp before she could stop herself, causing Sari to smirk shamelessly at her. _"Merle and I need to fly higher into the sky to determine the path to be taken after we clear these forests. It would still be unwise to be caught by Zaibach soldiers this early in the journey. I ask that you and Sari remain here until we return, besides, it would do you both well to rest for a moment."_

"Okay," Hitomi answered out loud, giving the dragon's maroon eyes a gentle smile, and then giving Merle a nod as the older cat woman gave her a wily smile she knew so well. She stooped and grabbed Sari's arm as Escaflowne shot up into the air, his sleek white body reminding Hitomi of the swans back on Earth, an animal that seemed to not exist on Gaea. She watched the pair fly up and out of sight, only tearing her attention away from them when she felt Sari whip her arm out of her grip.

"Where are they going?" Sari asked as she sat her self down in the traditional cat-like manner and began to clean her paw.

"To try and find a route for us to take when we get out of the forest," the green-eyed girl answered with an unsure sigh. "They want us to rest here until they come back."

"Fine by me," Sari answered tiredly flopping down onto the grass covered ground with a slight HUMPF. Hitomi grinned slightly as she too lowered herself to the ground, tucked her blue skirt underneath her legs and leaned back against a tree, closing her eyes to try and think better. The situation did not look good for the little company, and all they had to guide them was a vision that Hitomi had a few nights ago that were shaky at best when it came to correct interpretation.

Suddenly, Hitomi became overwhelmed with a sense of amazement…it had only been around five days since she had that vision at her graduation, and only six since she had that dream about Van! Hitomi opened her eyes and stared at the stars that were beginning to show in the fading daylight, her thoughts whirling quickly in her head on how quickly everything had changed. A week ago she had been worried about tripping as she walked off the podium at her school and about going to college in America on a track scholarship in the fall. Now, she was once again fighting to find a way to save not only the enchanting land of Gaea, but also how to find Van and return him to the world that now thought him a legend of sorts. Any other normal teenage might flip out over this but Hitomi felt an eerie sense of calm wash over her, as if she only had to believe in herself and her wishes and everything would turn out all right.

"If I believe," she said out loud without knowing. "Then I know I can find him. I have to trust that…nothing else matters right now but finding him."

"You really do care about Van Fanel don't you?" Sari asked, sitting up and looking intensely at the startled girl.

"Wha-what?" Hitomi asked, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "Did I say that out loud? Oh my gosh, how embarrassing! I didn't even know I was tal--"

"You didn't answer my question," Sari interrupted, her blue eyes searching the green ones for answers not voiced yet. "Do you really care for Van Fanel as much as you claim you do?"

Hitomi was silent for a moment before she answered, her own heart trying to figure that answer out itself. "I wasn't sure for the longest time…I thought I was in love with another man I met here at first. That wasn't love though, I understand that now, it was just that I wanted someone to care for me so bad that I willed myself to believe Allen's flirtatious manner meant he really cared for me. But what he and I felt was a lie, promoted by Dornkirk to try and hurt Van…which worked perfectly. When I kissed him, and saw the tortured look on Van's face…I knew then in my heart where my true feelings were. It just took a while for my brain to catch the memo.

"And still, I never told him just how much I cared about him, and for the past two years, for me at least, I've regretted that moment more than anything else in my life. I still don't know if what I feel for him is actual love, it's been so long since I last saw him and you can't expect to just start loving a person all over again after so much growth has happened between both of us. I'm not the same person I was when I was fifteen, and I'm sure he isn't either. But, in my heart, I still do love him and I'll do everything in my power to help him to tell him what I should have told him two years ago."

"Merle was right," Sari said after Hitomi finished her mini speech, rolling her eyes to look up at the Mystic Moon in the night sky. "She always said in her stories about you and Van Fanel that you were head-over-heels for him. She loved him too you know, maybe not as strongly as you do, but she did love him, and she was strong enough to let him go. Maybe that's why I never really wanted to believe he was a real person, then my grandmother would only have to go through that pain in her stories. But you kind of shattered that lie, a lie I had almost started to believe, the minute you told me who you were."

"I'm sorry," Hitomi said sadly, not knowing what else to say. "I didn't know Merle was really so…I'm just sorry."

"Everyone has their secrets," Sari said with the voice of someone much older than fifteen as she directed her eyes towards Hitomi's. "Like my tail for instance, a tribute to my hatred of the Zaibach Empire. I was young when the Elitists attacked my village, but old enough to remember everything they did. My parents were killed in front of my eyes, and they were going to kill me too when that silver-haired demon stopped them and instead cut off my tail. He told me it was because he didn't like the look in my eyes, and that he wanted me to live my life with a hideous scar just like him. Merle took me in after that, felt like it was her responsibility or something…Hitomi, are you okay?"

'Silver hair…a scar…' Hitomi thought as her breath started to quicken in fear, an awful face out of her nightmares resurfacing. "What-what was this man's name Sari?'

"Dilandau Albatou," Sari said, a confused look marring her features as she noted the terror flash across those emerald eyes. "Leader of the Elitists, the Emperor's top-notch soldiers. What's wrong Hitomi?"

"How is he still alive!" Hitomi yelled, her mind not working properly. "He should be dead along with all the others. Celena came back, I saw her Sari! He was gone, how is he still here?"

"What are you talking about Hito--" Sari began before Escaflowne and Merle landed once more, startling both girls.

"Celena Schezar disappeared, Hitomi," Merle rasped as she slid down off of the dragon's back gracefully. "She was around twenty or so and soon after Dilandau reappeared among Zaibach's ranks. He was created somehow by the Ferra, Dryden was able to discover that much before he was killed, and however they created him again from Celena Schezar has granted him an ageless existence. He isn't a day older than twenty-two Hitomi…and he's still as unstable as ever. I expect the Ferra will send him out after us soon enough, they probably hope we'll lead Dilandau to Van…you know how deadly his obsession with Van is."

"I'll die before I let that happen," Hitomi growled, an uncharacteristic emotion of fierce protection enveloping her.

"Of course you will, I will too," Merle said as she settled herself against a tree to get some sleep. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that though eh? Now, let's get some sleep and we'll be off tomorrow morning. We found a suitable trail to Maboch that will hide us from Zaiboch well enough." And with that, Merle fell promptly asleep, her slight snores verifying this.

"So…" Sari asked in a dull, exasperated tone. "Dilandau is some sort of psycho, immortal killer that existed back when you were last here, was somehow changed into Allen Schezar's sister I'm assuming, was changed back into Dilandau by the Ferra, and harbors some sort of sick obsession with Van. Did I leave anything out, and why does Dilandau have an obsession with Van?"

"No," Hitomi answered as she herself leaned against Escaflowne for comfort before she tried to go to sleep. "And because Van cut his cheek, giving him that long, red scar on his right cheek."

"And I thought things were weird before," Sari said with a yawn as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep herself.

"You're telling me," Hitomi whispered as Escaflowne's rhythmic breathing lulled her to sleep, her thoughts uneasy and troubled no matter how much she tried to calm herself down.

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"_Hitomi! What are you doing?"_

_Her eyes fluttered open to see a vast green field stretching out in front of her, only being punctuated by a large oak tree seemingly in the center of all the green grass. She looked up to who had spoken to her and gasped when she saw a familiar mess of black hair and maroon eyes gazing back at her. A soft smile graced his mouth and his eyes were twinkling in amusement over something._

"_Van?" she asked uncertainly, her eyes blinking a few more times consecutively to make sure she was seeing him truly in front of her. "Are you…are you really here?"_

"_Who else would I be?" he laughed back, moving enough for Hitomi to notice that he wasn't wearing a shirt and his great white wings were spread out behind him. "I think you've been out here in the sun for a bit to long Hitomi. I think you should go back inside…what's wrong? Why are you shaking your head at me?"_

"_Because," Hitomi said loudly in disbelief as she allowed his hand to hoist her off the ground, trying to keep the blush she felt in her cheeks from spreading as she tore her eyes away from his lithe body. "I just fell asleep, Van! And Merle was older, much older, and no one seems to remember you as anything else other than a legend! It was dark outside…and Fanelia was destroyed again…the city shouldn't be here!"_

"_Love," he said worriedly, not noticing her eyes widen at what he had just called her. "I really think you need to just relax, everything's all right, and no one's hurt. Maybe the doctors need to check up on you again…Merle did warn me that you sitting out here as long as you did might cause you to become emotional due to the baby."_

'_Baby?' Hitomi thought to herself as she backed away from Van's out-stretched hand, her thoughts running a million miles a minute. 'What is going on here? Why is Fanelia here, as brand new as it was when I first came to Gaea, and why did he…he called me love! He does care like I do! But why is everything still so confusing, it wasn't like this before! Why is everything so perfect?'_

_She suddenly gasped and looked back up at Van, who was smiling so beautifully at her it almost made her want to forget what she had just discovered. She shook her head and said out loud, "This isn't real…it's just my own fantasy. None of this is true."_

"_It is if you wish it," the image of Van answered back to her, taking a step forward towards her which made her step back. "You have that power Hitomi, why not use it? You want this, you can make this a reality…what's holding you back?"_

"_Shut up!" Hitomi yelled, clapping her hands around her ears and squinting her eyes so she couldn't see her dream anymore. "Go away! You're not real, just leave me alone!"_

…_Silence…_

_Hitomi opened her eyes and let out a pent up breath as she took in her new surroundings, initially just happy she was no longer in that field with something that looked like Van taunting her to use her powers. She had been warned to not use the power of her wishes when her feelings were so troubled because they brought about pain for everyone around her. _

_She started to breathe normally and took in her surroundings, noticing the stark difference from where she had just been. Sophisticated machinery lined all the walls, but they were on fire and crumbling apart, and she saw a lone figure cradling two fallen forms in his strong arms…a figure she knew so well._

"_Folken…"_

_Van's older brother was cradling the two twin cat sisters, Naria and Eriya, in his arms and then suddenly the image of the wizened Dornkirk appeared on a large screen behind them. Hitomi knew this was the day when the Vione had been destroyed and she started to run closer to where Folken was so she could hear what he was saying to Dornkirk._

"…_The answer that has forever eluded man! Our ideal future is at hand!"_

"_You are wrong your majesty!" Folken suddenly yelled, his face contorting into one of such grief it made Hitomi's heart break to see._

"_What!" Dornkirk replied, dumbfounded that his Strategos was defying him._

"_You heard me," Folken growled quietly as he lifted his eyes to face Dornkirk fully. "Your methods of bringing about this ideal future are wrong. You only kill and destroy…that is not what I wanted to do when I first joined you. I wanted to rid humanity of the destruction of war and all Zaibach seems to do is intensify the need for it. I can't believe I let myself be fooled by you for so long."_

"_You understand nothing Folken," Dornkirk answered calmly as the Vione continued to deteriorate around the saddened silver-haired man. "Sacrifices are needed to gain the true power of Atlantis! I had hoped you would understand this, being a descendant of both Atlantis and of man, and would have aided me in the final step of gaining that power. The power of Atlantis, made up of human thoughts and emotions, is a sentient being of sorts, but it needs the right…vessel…to use it properly. That was where the Draconians had failed, but where I would succeed…at least until the unknown element, the girl from the Mystic Moon appeared on Gaea. Alas, perhaps I choose the wrong Fanelian prince in the end."_

"_So that's what this was all about," Folken said, shaking his head and leaving Hitomi utterly bewildered by everything being said. "All along, that's all you were after. Well, you'll be pleased to know that I suppose you did pick the wrong prince…but I'll be damned if I let you anywhere near my brother just so you can use the blood of both worlds to fulfill your dark purposes! You'll have to settle for me Dornkirk, and I'll come willingly. I'm going to kill you if it's the very last thing I do with this life I've created for myself."_

"_Is that a promise Folken?" Dornkirk asked with a grin, his eyes widened in a frenzied passion. "Are you willing to die for something as simple as that? There are much darker beings on this world…more vile and sinister than you think I am. I may not be able to use the true power of Atlantis anymore and will need to use the girl Hitomi's strange gift to power my machine, but if I do in fact fail…I am not the only one who wishes to unleash Atlantis once more Folken!"_

"_They'll fail…just like you'll fail your majesty," Folken stated just as the screen short-circuited, slightly singeing his handsome face. He turned away, placed a final farewell kiss on both of the beautiful cat twins' heads and walked straight through Hitomi, climbing into Eriya's guymelef and jetting out of the now sinking Vione._

"_Folken!" Hitomi yelled, closing her eyes as she felt the heat of the exploding base against her face. She wrapped her arms around her face and closed her eyes, wishing she would wake up and out of this horrible nightmare she had wound up in. She could feel everything whirling around her, but she dared not to open her eyes because of what she may find. When everything was still for a moment, she slowly cracked an emerald eye open and scanned where she was._

_It was nothing…or really, that's all she could think of to describe it. All around her was an inky black color, not moving or swirling around anything to suggest objects present in the place…only nothingness. She turned back and forwards a few times to see if anything materialized out of the black to join her, but nothing happened except she had now messed up her honey-brown locks. _

"_Is anyone there?" she asked tentatively, both dreading and wanting a response. She yelped in surprise as the black swirled away and she found herself suddenly standing in a white city…a white city she had visited before. "Atlantis…"_

"_Yes little girl," a scratchy voice hissed behind her. "A place you are connected with quite well little seeress."_

"_Who--," Hitomi asked, taking in the flowing black cloak and clammy hands she had seen belong to the things that had destroyed Fanelia in her dream. "What are you? You're one of the things that destroyed Fanelia aren't you? I remember you from my dream!"_

"_If you knew, why did you ask?" the cloaked form hissed back in amusement, gliding to the side of Hitomi. "Does this belong to you child of the Mystic Moon or Earth?"_

_Hitomi felt terror grip her heart as the creature lifted up a bloodied and torn up white feather…a feather long enough to belong to an angel. "Oh Van…what have you done to him?"_

_The thing hissed in laughter, making Hitomi go cold. His black slits locked onto Hitomi's green, wide open eyes, and he showed her an image of a blue…form… destroying Gaea and bringing about the worst desires of people's hearts. She shook her head and turned away, shutting the image out of her head. _

"_That is the fate of this world girl, and then your own. What makes you think you can try and stop us, the Arref! One of the most ancient beings on either of these worlds, and scorned on both…we will succeed where Dornkirk could not, I guarantee you that."_

"_No…no…NO!"_

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"NO!"

"Hitomi!" Merle yelled, slapping Hitomi across the face to fully wake the girl up from her nightmare. "Stop it! It was just a dream…calm down, we're all still here."

Hitomi rubbed her cheek and blinked a few more times to get the sleep out of her eyes and was met with three very concerned pairs of eyes, a deep brown being the closest to her. She started to shake and hugged Escaflowne's neck when the white dragon lowered its head to rest across her lap to try and comfort the distraught girl.

" _Merle, Sari," _Escaflowne asked to the two concerned cat-folk. _"I will comfort her until she can fall back asleep…do not bother her with asking what she may have seen until the morning. We all still do need our rest…go back to sleep, I will stay with her."_

Sari nodded slowly, casting the shaking girl one last concerned glance before turning back over to fall back asleep. Merle studied the dragon for a moment before she too nodded and joined her adoptive granddaughter to fall back asleep. Escaflowne directed its attention back towards the weeping girl after he was sure the other two had fallen back asleep, humming the old Fanelian tune it knew to lull her into a dreamless sleep.

"_You are safe child, sleep untroubled now, I will protect you."_

"Where are you Van?" Hitomi whispered as she let herself be hummed to sleep by the great white dragon. 'Where are you?'

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**A/N: **Okay, so I apparently still don't know how to write a shorter chapter…oh well. Hope you all liked it, lots of hints and stuff given in this chapter. Plus some good ol'Folken moments…he's so tragic I just love him!

Drop a review guys, please! Let me know how I'm doing character wise and also pacing! I really hoped I got Dilandau in good character…I tried hard with him! Remember to REVIEW!

Osco


	6. Warrior Trapped in a Cage

**A/N: **Hello hello! Here we go, another chapter soon just like I promised! Just want to say thank you sooooo much to all the people who reviewed, you guys gave me the boost I needed to crank out that research paper and also just made me smile!

I know a lot of you want to see Van soon…you still got a bit of a wait to actually see him, but he's around still, especially in this chapter! I promise I won't disappoint y'all when he makes his big grand entrance! It's going to be a bang!

Enjoy!

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**Key to Atlantis**

**Chapter Five: Warrior Trapped in a Cage:**

The young man sprinted down the abandoned, filthy streets of Palas, the capitol of Maboch, not daring to slow down for even a moment to catch his breath. He could hear the clip-clop of the Zaibach soldiers behind him, shouting hoarsely to each other about how they were going to catch the fleeing boy in front of them, and willed his lungs to stop screaming for air as he sped up. He rounded a corner and leapt deftly onto a hidden ladder he knew to be flat against the wall, climbing up quietly with grace only stopping when he was concealed by the buildings shadow.

He kept his stressed and fatigued breathing quiet as the heavily armored soldiers turned the corner and passed under him, completely missing him as he lay frozen against the dark wall of some building in the business district of the city. He didn't trust himself to move for another couple minutes, almost sure that the soldiers would patrol back towards him when they discovered he had disappeared somewhere along the chase. After fifteen or so minutes had passed, he very quietly leapt down, landed silently on his feet, and began to slink off the other way, back towards the residential area of Palas.

As he walked back towards the small hovel that he liked to call home, the young man began to reflect on the deed he had committed to get him in this mess in the first place. It all had began as just some stupid idea to help rid the poor citizens of the once proud Asturia of the evil tyrant that presided over them for Emperor Salodin, but somehow had been warped into an assassination plot that had been months in the making. He even had cohorts answering to him, a simple blacksmith apprentice who wished to be a swordsman like those of legend, and everything had proceeded smoothly, until the night actually came and his assassin murdered the wrong man. Governor Jacobs had not been a pleasant man, but he had not deserved to die like he had, and the young man had taken it upon himself to kill King Moosta himself.

Needless to say, it had not worked quite well and now he was busy running from the Zaibach soldiers and trying to keep out of the hangman's noose.

The young man, just barely grown, ran a hand through his dark brown hair thatwas longer in front than in back and fell in in facein an elegant sort of way that was only messy because of his recent run from the law. He would be a wanted man in the morning he knew, but at least some good had come from this horrible situation he had made for his life. Maybe now the people of Maboch, all of them, would band together and over-throw King Moosta once and for all, ridding Zaibach of a powerful outpost at the same time they could gain their freedom.

He snorted to himself, knowing that the likelihoods of that happening were slim to none, and thrust his blood-stained hands deep into the pockets of his dark breeches, his intense eyes clouding over in thought as he came nearer to his home. He walked up to the familiar yard and smiled at the view he received, a warm but poor family who had taken him in after his mother had passed away who were all helping to set the table for dinner. He nearly made it to the door when he heard a sibilant hiss behind him that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"And where do we think we are headed little boy?" the creature whispered in amusement. "Surely not into such a caring house full of innocent people? You are a fugitive who may have been skilled enough to out maneuver the Zaibach soldiers, but not clever enough to out wit me."

"Leave them alone you monster," the young man growled, rage emanating from his voice. "They have nothing to do with this. They never even would have tr--"

"I might be persuaded of their innocence if you were to give yourself up to me boy," the black robed creature hissed cruelly, inspecting its scabbed hands in a dainty way. "I grow tired of chasing you throughout this forsaken city. That is your choice, give yourself and the family lives, resist and they die…simple as that."

The brown-haired man stood for a moment, a defiant expression never leaving his face as his blazing eyes looked to the house and back a few times, before his shoulders sagged in defeat and he gave a jerk of his head to show his surrender. He felt two strong arms tighten around his own arms and bind them close to his body, and then he was forced to face the black-robed thing in front of him, an evil smile able to be seen through the cowl of its cloak. It lifted its arm towards the house and hissed an order that should not have been spoken in such a joyous manner.

"Burn the house down, and make sure all of its occupants are dead by the morning, perhaps that will teach the citizens to not threaten the Zaibach Empire."

"No!" the young man yelled hoarsely, fear and anger mixing together in both his tone and eyes. "You said you would let them live! You bastard, leave them alone!"

"I am sorry young man," the now uncovered Ferra said in such a cruel tone it made the boy shrink back a bit. "But you are a traitor to the Empire, and the ones who harbored you must be taught a lesson about their disobedience. Perhaps you can reflect on how your sins have now condemned their lives as you wait in prison for your execution."

The young man's tortured gaze was torn away from the now burning house as he was taken back towards the palace dungeons, but he could still hear the terrified and pain-filled screams and that was enough.

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"So tell me again Hitomi," Merle wheezed as the fur companions continued down a long forgotten trail into Palas, now the capitol of Maboch. "You saw Lord Folken and Emperor Dornkirk talking about some ancient power of Atlantis and then to an image where you saw a Ferra controlling a being of blue light?"

"Yes all right?" Hitomi said in a frustrated tone, craning her neck to look up at Merle who was perched on Escaflowne's back yet again. "For the hundredth time yes! Why do you keep asking? I can't remember anything else…well, at least I don't think there was anything else important."

"Yeah," Sari said in a sly voice from beside the girl from the Mystic Moon. "I guess fantasizing your pregnant with Van Fanel's child isn't all that informative is it?"

"Would you shut up already?" Hitomi sighed as she turned an attractive color of pink all over as she once again thought of a very attractive Van Fanel shirtless and holding her hand. "I told you that it wasn't important enough times to beat it in to even your thick skull. I'm more interested in what Dornkirk told Folken about this power…I thought that Atlantis stored their knowledge at Fortula in Freid? Why did they both seem to know about this sentient power…this true power of Atlantis?"

Merle didn't say anything for a while, her face screwed up in thought as if she was searching her mind for a long forgotten memory. Hitomi looked over and saw Sari had a puzzled expression on her face as well, so then she directed her attention to the great maroon eyes for an answer.

"_I do not know about this child,"_ Escaflowne replied to Hitomi's question. _"But it does seem that this power could be what the Ferra are after now…and perhaps it holds answers to why I came into this form and also the whereabouts of my master. If Folken knew of this power, perhaps Van does as well…in your retelling of the incident it seemed that Folken thought Van might have something to do with it. But until we have clearer answers to these troubling questions, it would probably do well to focus on the present for the moment. We can always revisit this problem later when we have other answers."_

Hitomi nodded her head, trusting the white dragon's words completely, and turned her head back towards the path she was trekking, a winding, narrow, and rocky path that was closely hugging the steep cliffs that rimmed the outside of Palas. She was happy to be back in Asturia, the beautiful seaport city that was a buzz with life her last visit. She ran a hand down her pale arm, thinking of how subdued Arzas had been, and hoped that Palas was still the beautiful city she remembered. She wondered if Allen, one of her greatest friends from Gaea, had become a legend just like Van had, and he mind receded further inside itself as she wrapped herself in memories.

She had first met Millerna here, the beginning of a friendship that had began as rocky as the trail she was now walking, and she had first discovered that other people from Earth had visited Gaea when she found a CD in the bazaar. She had saved Van here from assassination and she had first been kidnapped here as well, only to be rescued by Van. She had her first kiss here, on a bridge overlooking the ocean, and had broken her first heart here when Van had seen her and Allen kissing. She attended her first large scale wedding here and had also survived a terrorist attack here as well; something she still felt was her fault.

She hugged herself as a cold breeze blew at the four from the sea on the other side of these mountains, her brown hair whipping across her vision a few times before she reached up and secured the hair with a band she had in her pocket from graduation. She looked up to see Merle huddled in a blanket on Escaflowne and apparently in a deep sleep due to the snores that came from her now and then. The sight made Hitomi smile as she fished out her IPod from her small brown bag, given to her back in Arzas that held her makeshift black graduation cloak and a few other items of clothing, and put the earpieces into her ears so she could hear the music.

The young woman was quite happy her I Pod still had enough power to play, suspecting that maybe her pendant generated a type of energy or something, but she pushed those thoughts as one of her favorite songs began to play, and she unknowingly began to sing along with the tune.

"_Stuck in a memory of us,_

_So hard to know that we're worlds apart,_

_And I was so wrong to think this would all be so easy!_

_But trust me I'll be back for more,_

_And then I'll close my eyes and go,_

_That's the reason with me here forever."_

It was strange how almost every song she loved so much before now started to remind her of Van. It wasn't as if they always had made her think of him, but now looking back, she realized it was because she had thought that they're being apart on different worlds wouldn't be a hindrance. It would be easy, she had remembered thinking as she floated back to her own world and watched his smiling face fade away, and now she had come to realize how foolish that notion had been.

How could two people, who had just admitted to how they each felt about one another, even think that this would be so easy? Hitomi shook her head at her own foolishness and wondered if Van had come to realize that as she had before he disappeared.

"_Thrown into a world of fact and fiction,_

_Swimming in my own contradictions,_

_In my fantasy, you are here with me._

_You can say it's all right,_

_You can say you don't mind,_

_But it's killing me to be away from you!_

_And you can say it's all right,_

_You can say you don't mind,_

_But it's killing me to be away from…"_

She had been thrown into this world, without a single warning as to what would be waiting here for her or as to what would happen to her along the way. She had grown up here, she realized that as soon as she returned for the second time, and she had changed into a person who did not need to be reassured by other branches of knowledge on what she already knew in her heart was true. It had happened almost against her will, her clinging on to Allen was proof of that, but when she had told Dornkirk's spirit that she didn't believe in pre-determined fate she knew right then that she had changed.

Now the only problem was that she was still apart from the person who had helped her grow into who she now was. She had been so selfish when she originally came to Gaea, but knowing and being around him had changed that…it had changed him too. It hurt so much to be away from him on Earth, and now that she was back on Gaea, it hurt even worse because she had not been there to help him when he needed her…when he wanted her to be there.

"_Your sigh,_

_I'm done with closes and_

_Goodbyes, are falling upon its side._

_I try to make you speak,_

_But your beautiful awkward silence falls on me._

_But trust me I'll be back for more,_

_And then I'll close my eyes and go,_

_That's the reason with me here forever!"_

He had been so incredibly awkward when she first met him Hitomi thought as she giggled a little as she sang along to the words. He was cold one minute and kind the next, but his facial expressions were always comical when she was alone with him. It was a wonder that she didn't see how much he cared earlier, but she was horrible herself when it came to actually understanding what love really was. By the time she got it right, she had to leave him, curse what you call ironic.

"_Thrown into a world of fact and fiction,_

_Swimming in my own contradictions,_

_In my fantasy, you are here with me._

_And it makes my nights a little richer,_

_Falling in love with a faded picture of you,_

_Fantasy, you are here with me."_

All that she had to go on for so long was a dimming memory of his face, was this song written just to make her feel this way? It was frustrating that she decided to listen to music in order to calm herself down and clear her mind, but instead it had caused her to think of about a million things that did not let her mind relax. On Earth, girls would swarm Hitomi and ask her what this mystery guy she was seeing looked like, after all a pretty girl doesn't reject the captain of the gymnastics team if she doesn't already have a boyfriend. And she would always say she just wasn't interested in dating right now, in her heart and mind wishing for something much more meaningful.

She was wishing for Van.

"_You can say it's all right,_

_You can say you don't mind,_

_But it's killing me to be away from you!_

_And you can say it's all right,_

_You can say you don't mind,_

_But it's killing me to be away from…_

_You are the burning in my throat,_

_With the gentleness of smoke._

_And it ever flows quickly past my veins,_

_And then gone, but I wish it wasn't true."_

'I wish I had more time with you Van,' Hitomi thought to herself as she listened and sang to the damn song. She knew she should have picked her own relaxing tune instead of trusting the shuffle option!

"_You can say it's all right,_

_You can say you don't mind,_

_But it's killing me to be away from you!_

_And you can say it's all right,_

_You can say you don't mind,_

_But it's killing me to be away from you."_

Hitomi stopped singing along to the song and took out the ear phones after the song ended, wondering why they were stopping to rest already, until she looked up and saw it was dark outside.

"How is it so late already?" Hitomi wondered aloud to no one in specific, her emerald eyes narrowing in confusion. "It was only three or so last time I checked."

"Oh, you finally decided to stop singing?" Sari asked with a mischievous gleam in her blue eyes as she threw Hitomi a look and a grin. "You were singing that song forever! Albeit, it's a pretty nice one, I had it memorized by about the seventh time or so, but I was wondering if you were ever going to stop!"

Hitomi looked comically over at Merle who nodded in agreement with Sari before looking back down at her IPod, her eyes softening as she thought back to that song. "I didn't even know I repeated it…" she thought out-loud to herself, loud enough for the others to barely hear. "I didn't even notice…"

Both Sari and Merle muffled their laughter from Hitomi before rolling over to fall asleep instantly. Hitomi fell asleep a little bit later, her ear phones in her ears again and her lips mouthing along to a song, her thoughts to filled about a certain maroon-eyed young man she did not notice the other maroon eyes watching her with interest,

Escaflowne wrapped its slim but powerful form around the sleeping girl in a protective manner, not sure why it felt so drawn to the brown-haired girl, but feeling it nonetheless. Her words from earlier were still echoing in its head, answers swimming to the surface but diving again before he could examine them closely, but he thought it best to keep his suspicions to itself for the time being. If Folken, the other half Draconian, was the wrong prince Dornkirk had been looking for, that meant its little one was much more involved than anyone had thought of yet. But, the white dragon let out a soft yawn in the form of a growl before laying its head down next to Hitomi Kanzaki…almost not noticing the feeling of joy pass through him before he gave into sleep.

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_It feels so surreal, she's close but than she's not. How do I keep coming up with this stuff? What am I even saying, it's not like I know anything about her at all…but when she made that noise come out…it felt so familiar I could barely stand not knowing! _

_Why do I keep feeling her feelings…painfully reminding me that I'm not real, or that maybe I am. I'm not so sure anymore, but both seem to me like it would be a painful admission to be either. Why does she keep feelings these things out of the blue? It doesn't seem logical…but then again, what does here? I don't even know where here is…but maybe it's better that I don't._

_She's still singing…that's what it's called! Singing…that noise is singing. I'm remembering more things lately, or at least I keep telling myself I am like just now. I am crazy, listen to me talk to myself, trying to discover if I'm worth a damn or not. Maybe I want to be so badly for her…I want to be the one she's singing about…but what kind of chance is there of that? I don't even know what I am or was…_

_I don't think I was worthy of her though…maybe just in my mind no one is because she's perfect here where I can see only her emotions…and her green eyes. They are so full of caring and…something else that I can't quite remember. I want her to sing again so I can hear her voice…well maybe hear is the wrong word for it, but still. _

_How can she be so very near to me, and so far away at the same time? Is it because of—_

_What's the matter with me? It's just some kind of lie I've fabricated for myself, she doesn't sing for me or for my pain…she sings for some one she cares about…someone who isn't some kind of spirit or whatever I am. I'm not really in pain anymore…the black things must have something else to preoccupy their time now. I hope it's not her and that's why I can see her…_

_Maybe I'm there vessel so they can see her! I need to stop, they might hurt her, and I don't want that! I could never-could never want that. I'd take a thousand more pains from them than let them have her!_

_I promised to protect her…I promised to protect her…to protect her…_

_I'll keep that promise._

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Hitomi woke up the next morning, feeling slightly refreshed, albeit she had a distinct impression that her dream last night would bother her for the rest of the day. As she rolled up her bedding and blanket, her thoughts drifted back towards the blue being she saw again in her dream, destroying Gaea at the hands of the Ferra, but it had shifted suddenly in her dream to one where she was dancing with that blue being, high above the ground. She could not fully say she thought this creature was evil anymore, because it had felt so kind in her dream…and that voice

"_I'll keep that promise."_

It just confused her, but she pushed the dream out of her mind as her company started to continue down the spiraling path and she hurried to catch up.

"Hey guys," she yelled as she drew level to them again. "It would have been nice if you had least told me we were leaving! Thanks for leaving me up there, all alone, in a world I know nothing about anymore!"

"We were just afraid you'd start singing again Hitomi," Sari said with a crooked grin, giggling a bit at her own cleverness.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" Hitomi snapped back, fixing the playful kitten with a trademark glare. She opened her mouth to say something else insulting when she heard Merle laughing hysterically and shot her a look. "What are you laughing about Merle?"

"Just that you look good enough to be a handmaiden now, eh?" Merle choked out amidst her guffaws. "Remember?"

Hitomi froze for a moment when she realized she had something exactly like that when Merle made a crack about her dress her first time in Asturia. As she started to laugh along with the old cat, Sari shot Escaflowne another annoyed look that plainly said she was angry for being out of the loop, before she stormed off ahead to escape the now crying pair.

"I forgot about that," Hitomi finally said, wiping her eyes as she still chuckled slightly. "Wow, I feel like I just went back in time a bit…I was so angry with you I remember Merle."

"Yeah," Merle agreed, now completely sobered up again, a contemplative look on her face. "I was mad at you too. Van couldn't stop staring at you, he thought you looked beautiful. I was so jealous! You as usual were clueless, and poor Millerna, we must have confused the heck out of her eh? You did look pretty though Hitomi."

"Oh, Thank you," Hitomi said quietly, thinking back to what Merle had just said. He thought she was beautiful in that dress!

The three continued in silence until they rounded a corner and found Sari there staring out at the expanse of Palas before them. It looked quite like Hitomi had remembered, with a few differences here and there, like the smog that seemed to rise from the city's residential areas she recalled so well. It looked like her worst fears came out to be true again, Palas had changed into a dirty and sad looking city that she would have told anyone before that was one of the purest cities she had ever seen.

As they walked down in silence, Hitomi was overcome with a vision of a warrior being hung and a blue being destroying the world. The warrior looked like someone she once knew, but couldn't quite place…he was the one from her vision! He was here in Palas, and about to be killed!

"He's there!" Hitomi breathed as she came out of her vision, stumbling slightly and allowing Sari to steady her. "The warrior from my vision on Earth is in Palas…the one trapped in a cage of his own making. But he's going to be killed if we don't rescue him! We need to go now!"

"Are you crazy?" Sari hissed back, jerking Hitomi back towards Escaflowne and Merle. "We can't just barge in and rescue some convict in Palas! It's overrun with Zaibach pigs, we'd be caught without even trying!"

"But we need him to come with us!" Hitomi countered, looking back at the white dragon and the older cat woman to try and make them listen to her. "I know it seems crazy, but it's true! We need him to help find Van, and besides, if Zaibach wants to kill him, doesn't that make him a good guy?"

"Not necessarily Hitomi," Merle said as she slid off of Escaflowne's back, fixing the girl with a beady look. "But, if your vision says we should help him, I think we should. But, Sari is right too…we need a plan or we'll never get in there without being killed as well. Any suggestions?"

Neither Hitomi nor Merle said anything, both thinking for an answer, and Escaflowne was merely gazing at all of them. Hitomi was about to ask the dragon what they should do when suddenly Sari spoke up.

"I have an idea," the black-haired kitten said in a no-joking tone, her blue eyes hard and determined. "But it means that Hitomi needs to be a much better actress than she was in Arzas. And it means that neither you Grandma or Escaflowne can interfere with whatever might go wrong until we tell you too. Can you all do that?"

When Sari received nods from each person and the dragon, she gave an evil smile and said, "Okay then, here's what we do…"

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"This isn't going to work Sari," Hitomi hissed as the two girls walked through the bazaar of Palas, making their way towards the large courtyard where Hitomi had witnessed Millerna and Dryden's disastrous wedding. "If you haven't noticed, there are hundreds of Zaibach soldiers here! I know I look different for Gaea and--"

"That's what I'm counting on," Sari hissed back, keeping a docile expression on her usually otherwise face. "These men haven't been home to Zaibach in quite a long time…they probably wouldn't notice if the styles there have changed considerably, they usually do anyway. All you need to do is act like you're a Zaibach nobleman's daughter visiting Palas for a month and let me take care of the rest."

"Oh, that inspires hope," Hitomi muttered under he r breath, receiving a slight jab in the rib for it. "Ouch! Will you stop that already? I just don't think this as a high chance of success is all."

"Well," Sari answered back matter-of-factly as she gave the brown-haired girl a furtive glance. "You were the one who kept saying how important this guy is because of your vision and all. It will work if you stop fidgeting and just act like a snobby noble, shouldn't be too hard for you really."

Hitomi was about to retort when she saw some soldiers round the corner towards both girls, and dragged Sari into an alleyway to hide until they passed. She slumped against the side of the wall and gave out a small whimper of fear and doubt, terrified that she would mess up and ruin any chance Van might have wherever he was, and directed her green gaze back to the patient eyes of the kitten.

"I don't think I can do this Sari," Hitomi moaned, her hands wringing each other in nervous anticipation. "I was always a horrible liar and now…I'll get us both killed!"

"No you won't," Sari replied logically, her gaze not leaving Hitomi's. "Because you never got anyone killed in all the stories my grandma told me about you. You actually saved people more than anything else, you were always so capable and determined…you even surrendered yourself once. That takes the type of courage needed to make this plan work, plus you could pass for a Zaibach noble. If they see me with you, it'll blow away any questions they may have about you; beast people don't travel openly in the big cities unless they are slaves now-a-days. Just stay calm and stick with the plan and everything will work out just fine."

Sari didn't say anything for a while, letting her words sink into the young woman until she saw that green fire Grandma Merle had always talked about Hitomi getting when she's determined. The cat-girl smiled and let Hitomi walk back out onto the street, following quickly after as they hurried to the Palace courtyard. Hitomi slowed down and put on one of the best snotty, stuck-up faces Sari had ever seen and march right past some passing Zaibach soldiers as if it had not terrified her moments before.

When they finally arrived at their destination, both girls looked around to where they thought the prisoners might be kept through the throng of people who had shown up to watch the execution. It made Hitomi inwardly ill to see so many people who apparently enjoyed watching someone lose their life, but she kept her face on, determined to live up to whatever Merle had spoken about her in those stories to her granddaughter. It made Hitomi slightly smile to think that Merle had actually said nice things about her, but then she realized that the Merle who had told those stories was now grown-up, not the same brash kitten she had known. It made her sad to know that she missed out on Merle growing up; they could've actually been great friends…

"There Hitomi," Sari whispered, barely inclining her head towards a small group of soldiers guarding a storage house. "Let's do this shall we?"

"Okay," Hitomi answered, more to herself than Sari, as they started to walk over towards the casually standing soldiers. 'All right Kanzaki,' Hitomi told herself mentally in a stern tone. 'Prove to everyone that died while you were gone that you're not some weak and defenseless little girl! Show them all right now, right here.'

She walked regally over to the soldiers, flashing the men a dazzling smile as she approached and asked, "May I inquire if this is where the condemned prisoners are located?"

"May I inquire your name my Lady?" One of the more attractive soldiers asked back, a teasing smile playing on his lips as he looked Hitomi up and down. "I hope you'll forgive me, but your apparel is most…unusual, and the times are dangerous here in Palas."

"Not at all good sir," Hitomi said with a vapid smile, thinking to herself that this was almost too easy. "My name is Lady Kala Durstange of Kaldoch. My father is here on business, and I decided I had not visited Palas since I was young so I would join him. And as to my clothing," she said indicating the blue skirt and white halter she was wearing underneath her graduation robe-cloak. "It's the new rage in the Zaibach Empire right now! Is it not just simply beautiful? I actually have several of these new 'skirts' at home, I thought Palas could use some culture."

"Forgive me Lady Kala," the soldier said as he and the others swept into a bow, recognizing the name Durstange immediately as one of the wealthiest merchant families in all of Zaibach. "It has been so long since you have come here to Maboch, I hardly recognized you. If it pleases you, you have grown into a beautiful young woman Lady Kala."

"Thank you soldier," Hitomi simpered, hoping she did not have to stay in the soldier's presence that much longer. "And do not worry, I will forgive the momentary lapse if you would be so kind as to let me examine the prisoners for a short moment. You see, one of _those_ criminals actually cost my father quite a lot of money when he blew up one of my father's shipping vessels and I was hoping to let him know just how horrible he is before he dies! You do understand don't you?"

"Well," the soldier answered, looking a little nervous at the prospect of letting her in. "I am not sure if I can allow that Lady Kala but--"

"Oh tish-tosh," Hitomi said as she waved a hand in front of her face and then flashed him another smile. "I'll only be a moment or two, and I have my handmaiden here, I'll be perfectly all right. My father would greatly appreciate it if you would do this one favor for me."

She kept smiling, hoping that the contemplative look on his face wasn't debating whether to hang her as well, and felt a wave of relief wash through her when he smiled at her and gave her a nod, moving aside for her to pass. She thanked the soldier for understanding and floated past him, Sari close by her side who was giving her a look of immense approval for her performance.

"Nice job," Sari murmured once the two were out of earshot. "I nearly believed you…you couldn't have done better."

"Thanks," Hitomi breathed back, clutching her pendant for its comforting warmth. "I was so worried the entire time he was just going to order me to be hung a well!"

"Are you kidding?" Sari replied, shooting the other girl a sly smile. "That guy was too memorized by how short your skirt is to even care. Lucky you're not terribly ugly."

"Very funny Sari," Hitomi muttered back, glancing in the cells for the man from her vision. "Do you see him yet?"

"I don't know what he looks like. I thought you did."

"Well, it would have been prudent if you had at least asked me uh?"

"Excuse me for not--"

"Sari," Hitomi breathed out, grabbing the cat-girl's arm to stop her. "There he is! Let's hurry!"

Hitomi hurried over the young man she had pointed to, a boy barely grown you looked to be asleep. Hitomi saw that his dark brown hair was a mess all over his head, the longer front portion hanging over his face and obscuring his features. She wrapped her hands around the prison bars and whispered, "Um…you there, we're here to he--"

"Get away from me," the young man lashed out, springing from his pounce in an instant and scaring Hitomi away from the bars as he launched himself at them. "You stupid little brain-washed sycophant! I don't care if I burned down one of daddy's precious ships, if I hurt Moosta someway than it was well worth it! Go and play politics with someone else you stupid whore!"

Hitomi stood completely still for a moment, before marching right back up to the prison and soundly slapping the young man through the bars, her green eyes blazing. "Will you keep it down you moron! We're trying to help you, but if you keep calling me names than one of those soldiers is going to come in here and you'll be dead! I mean, gosh…I just want to make sure you'll be okay and I smuggle myself in here even though I was terrified and you just yell at me!"

Hitomi took a steadying breath as the young man eyed her with clear blue eyes, his hand rubbing his cheek where she had hit him. She calmed herself down and starting hissing instructions as Sari walked up next to her, her claws protracted and ready.

"Okay, first give your hands over to Sari, she'll undo the bonds and stuff and listen to me. Okay, if you believe me or not, my name is Hitomi Kanzaki and I come from the Mystic Moon."

"What!" the young man asked back, craning his head to look at her as the kitten undid the bonds without making it look so. "The infamous seeress? She's just a myth though!"

"I assure you I'm very real," Hitomi said dryly as she glanced quickly over her shoulder. "But if you want proof, you'll have to get it later because we don't have a lot of time. Okay, so you need to do exactly what I'm going to tell you. When you see a bright blue column of light out there, you need to rip off the bonds Sari is weakening and grab a sword from somewhere near you and get yourself off the stand. We'll take care of everything else, so don't worry…just trust me when you see our getaway…um transportation. You need to act just like you did before though, don't let any of them know that we were here. Got all that?"

The young man nodded, a slightly dumbfounded expression play across his handsome, albeit dirty, features. Sari backed away and gave Hitomi a triumphant nod before checking the soldiers again.

"They have a Ferra here," the blue-eyed boy said quietly, his eyes narrowed in anger. "A fake blue column light isn't going to fool De'miraz or her cohorts."

"It won't be fake," Hitomi muttered back, the name he called the Ferra triggering an elusive memory she couldn't quite catch. "Just trust me okay? Believe me, they'll be plenty busy with other--"

"Hitomi," Sari hissed hurriedly. "We need to leave now."

Hitomi looked back at the imprisoned youth, seeing the gradual trust settle in his clear blue orbs, and gave him an encouraging smile before she swept out of the room, Sari following the beautiful girl obediently, readopting her façade of Lady Kala. Hitomi murmured another thank you to the soldiers and weaved her way through the crowd, waiting anxiously for everything to get started.

Sari stood next to her and asked quietly, "You can call to Escaflowne right? I mean, that wasn't just a legend either?"

"I hope so," Hitomi said more to herself as she gazed up in the clouds where she knew the white dragon and Merle were, waiting for her signal. "Otherwise we're sort of screwed."

"That's great," Sari muttered darkly as she stared at the stage as the prisoners were being hung for various crimes. It was not until at least seven criminals lost their life that Sari saw that tell-tale messy brown hair and elbowed Hitomi to get her attention. "Hey, there he is, let's get ready."

Hitomi nodded silently, holding out her pendant as she listened to the orator list off the reasons why the boy was going to be killed.

"On this day," the over-weight man yelled out to the crowd. "A Loric de Jesep will be hung from the neck until dead for crimes against the Zaibach Empire. They list as espionage, plotting against the Empire, and finally an assassination attempt on King Moosta of Maboch. May the Gods help his soul."

Hitomi saw another man forcibly tie the noose around the named young man, Loric, and she could hear that the actual citizen part of the crowd were not cheering at all, but rather looking depressed and beaten. She saw that Sari had already disappeared, her part in this plan different from Hitomi's, and she knew it was time. She threw her entire mind into contacting Escaflowne, relieved that she was able to reach him easily, and then wished her pendant to glow with the same blue light she had been abducted by nearly three years ago.

Her eyes flew open as she heard people start to yell in panic in fear, looking at not just one, but three columns of bright blue light weaving their way through the crowds and a gleaming white dragon raining fire down on the courtyard as well, careful not to actually hurt anyone seriously. She smiled to herself as she saw Sari throw open the gates that held back the townspeople and watch them wash over the Zaibach soldiers as well, obviously hoping to free this Loric person as well. Sari had jumped back on Escaflowne and Hitomi hurried over to where Loric was fighting off soldiers with a sword with such skill, it almost blew her away.

Hitomi had nearly reached Loric when suddenly one of the cloaked forms from her nightmares swept in front of her, blocking her path. For a moment, neither moved towards the other, just staring at each other as if trying to figure out the other. Hitomi could feel her pendant burning hotly against her skin as she continued to gaze at the creature in front of her, remembering the horrible images from her vision and she knew who was standing in front of her, the creams of a little girl echoing in her ears.

"De'miraz," Hitomi hissed, not sure why she felt so brave when she knew she should feel terrified.

"Seeress from the Mystic Moon," De'miraz drawled back, her sibilant voice dripping in amusement and interest.

Before either could say anything else, Escaflowne swooped in front of her, breathing fire at the Ferra with uncontrolled fury. Hitomi saw De'miraz throw up some sort of magical shield to protect herself from the heat, but then felt Sari tug her up, yelling something about her being crazy.

The dragon swooped back around and flew over to where Loric stood fighting and lowered himself enough for the youth to leap onto him from a slight height. Hitomi yelled at him to hurry up and she held her hand out for him to grab. The brown-haired young man slashed his sword through one last Zaibach soldier, spraying dark red blood onto the already stained ground before he ran and leapt onto the dragon from the ledge of the platform for the hangings. He positioned himself between Sari and Hitomi and before any of the other Ferra could do anything, the five vigilantes swept off into the now night sky.

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"Thank you for rescuing me," Loric said to Hitomi, a while after Escaflowne had set the small band down in an enclosed glen away from Palas. Escaflowne was apparently dozing with Merle and Sari, all three tired out from the day's excursions, but Hitomi and Loric had set up camp and such while the adrenaline still pumped through their veins.

"Oh no problem," Hitomi said brightly, as if rescuing people was an every day occurrence for her. "I just can't believe we actually pulled it off you know? I kept thinking we would get caught or something…but we didn't and you're safe now so that's all that matters."

"Why did you save me?" Loric asked, his now clean hair hanging elegantly in front of his eyes, a quirk that Hitomi could see was due to his hair being longer in front than in back. "You don't even know me…and I didn't know you until you came into my cell this evening."

"Oh well," Hitomi said quietly, playing with her shoulder length hair nervously. "I um, I saw you in a vision before I came back to Gaea. Do you still want proof that I'm who I say I am?"

"No," Loric answered simply, giving Hitomi what she thought was a rare smile. "You pretty much proved it to me when you called down those blue pillars of light. I read a lot of stories about the Destiny Wars…that was something you were known for…that and for being with Allen Schezar."

"Oh yeah," she said with a small chuckle, imagining Van's look when he found out she was mentioned in books as being with Allen. It all seemed silly to her to be frank. "I guess I was with him for a little while. Aren't you curious as to why I'm still young when I should be older than Merle over there?"

"That's Merle?" Loric asked with interest. "The Merle who was the legendary Van Fanel's companion? I thought she was just a myth along with him…I suppose he isn't either than? Of course he's not…his story was one of my favorites as a child. He was in love with you wasn't he? I thought I read that somewhere…"

"Yes, I was too," Hitomi said quietly, thinking that it was strange she said was. "I mean, I am. That's why we need your help Loric…we're going to find Van Fanel, and my vision said you could help us do that. Can you?"

Loric was silent for a minute or two, a deep contemplating look on his face that reminded Hitomi of another brooder she met here her last trip to Gaea. She started to giggle, which caused Loric to look at her strangely so she had to explain, "I'm not laughing at you Loric. You just remind me of someone else you used to get this really deep look on his face when he was thinking about something serious."

"Who?" Loric asked innocently.

"Allen Schezar," Hitomi said, still giggling as Loric's face turned to one of surprise. "He used to sit like that on the Crusade and just think and think and think; usually about his father and mother, but sometimes about Van or Millerna, or well, me. I think I fascinated him more than anything else, but he was a great man."

The two sat in silence for a little while longer before Hitomi announced that she was going to go to bed and that he could decide in the morning what he wanted to do. He watched her fall asleep, softly singing a song with some strange earpiece in her ears, her child-like manners reminding him of little Sara, now dead because her family had allowed him to stay there. He looked back at the small fire, already in his heart decided what he would do in the morning, but his brain still needing to go through everything. It was a lot to take in all at once, seeing as almost everything he had thought to be a legend was suddenly a reality and staring him in the face.

Maybe the morning would hold more answers to him, until then he would try to sleep and block out the screams of his nightmares…maybe he would just listen to her song.

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**A/N: **Wow, longest one yet! Sad thing is they're only going to get longer and longer. I don't think any of y'all will worry about that though! I hope you liked this one, not really a cliffhanger or anything, but I can't do that to you guys all the time!

Remember review!

Oh, the song Hitomi sings in this chapter is not owned by me, Aphasia and all their people do. The song is called "Away From You," and the CD is called Fact and Fiction, I recommend rereading that part while listening to this song, it'll fit so perfectly I swear! Until next time, Adieu!

Osco


	7. Schemes and Dreams

**A/N: **I'm trying to get as much out as I can before my finals take over my life! Thanks again so much for all those reviews! They make me all warm inside! A few of you think you guys know where Van is…all very good guesses I must say, but not entirely correct. Oh, and as to the song in the last chapter…it did not make my chapter a 'songfic' per say, because she was singing the song to herself, which I wanted my characters to do in certain parts. I listen to music when I write because it helps me get my thoughts down much better, but I'm sorry if the IPod bothers anyone, I didn't think it would…sorry! I don't have a talent for poetry but I'll give it a shot okay?

This chapter is going to put a few if you into a frenzy I think! Well, enjoy!

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**Key to Atlantis**

**Chapter Six: Schemes and Dreams:**

The next morning was without incident, the usual breakfast rituals not interrupted by anything out of the ordinary, and the four companions were still smarting over their successful rescue attempt the night prior. Their newly recruited fifth member was not partaking in the early meal, as he had opted to clean up their campsite and was currently washing the dishes in a nearby brook, but only Hitomi seemed to be concerned about his quiet melancholy. Merle shrugged her shoulders in indifference when Hitomi voiced her worry for Loric de Jesep and Sari just teased her relentlessly with, "I thought you loved Van?" and would laugh until Hitomi dropped the subject.

She watched him return from washing all the dishes, her green eyes watching him closely for any signs as to why he seemed so taciturn, but his passive face revealed nothing to inform her of his mood. She caught his eyes, a question forming there clearly, but he answered before she could ask.

"I've decided to accompany you four on your journey after some thought," he explained to the others, if noticing their surprised faces not mentioning it. "It seems like the best course of action to help rid not only Maboch, but all of Gaea of those monsters…the Ferra. If not only Hitomi Kanzaki, the seeress from the Mystic Moon is trying to rid them of their stronghold, but also the legendary Esacflowne and Merle, than it is only right that I offer whatever help I can."

"How did you know about Escaflowne?" Hitomi asked quizzically, a frown forming on her pretty face. "I didn't tell you about how it turned into a dragon."

"I assumed," Loric answered with a wave of his hand as he walked over to his pack and started to clean the sword he had stolen for his own the night before. "I told you before, I've read almost every story I could on the Destiny Wars, and that dragon looks like the Guymelef Escaflowne and I think I read somewhere that it and the Fanelian King were connected somehow. It would make sense that it would try to find its master…but can you tell me how it became a dragon?"

"_We are unaware of how I came to be child,"_ Escaflowne's gentle, wise voice said to the startled young man who was looking at the white dragon in alarm. _"We hope to uncover that mystery along with many others on this journey. I am happy you have agreed to come with us Loric of Maboch."_

"Just Loric is fine," the blue-eyed youth said with a slight smile at the white dragon. "Thank you Escaflowne. Now, I know who three of you are, but who's the kitten?"

"Excuse me," Sari said with her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing. "Don't call me that, I have a name…Sarisim thank you very much. But, call me Sari or else I won't answer. Anyway, who are you really? I mean, we know your name, but not really anything else, I don't want to travel with someone who really is a criminal you know,"

"I don't know much about my past," Loric said with a shrug and a small smile at Sari's anger towards him. "My mother died when I was four of a Dysentery epidemic in Palas…I never knew my father, he was killed for treason before I was born. I became an apprentice for a blacksmith when I was fourteen, five years ago, and I learned how to use a sword there as well. The blacksmith said I just had a natural talent for swordplay, I guess he was right, and when I was seventeen I started a plan to assassinate King Moosta. Obviously, it failed, and I was captured…those filthy Ferra burned down that blacksmith's home along with his family to teach the city a lesson on Moosta's orders.

"That's why I'm going to help you Hitomi," Loric said, directing his angry blue eyes towards her green ones which were saddened for all of the pain he went though in his young life. "I want those Ferra wiped out of Gaea so Maboch can return to being the Asturia I read in those stories when I was younger! King Moosta's cruel hold over Maboch needs to be stopped too…it was never his kingship to begin with. I'll help you anyway I can to repay you for saving my life, even if that means I may die on this journey."

Hitomi nodded silently, not wanting him to swear his life on this but aware that she would not be able to dissuade him from it. She had enough experience with Van to know stubbornness when she saw it. She just hoped Loric's thirst for vengeance wouldn't result in the same way Van's had, in him almost dying.

"I know a way you can help that's more immediate," Merle spoke up suddenly, directing her still sharp brown eyes to Loric. "You can help teach Hitomi and my granddaughter Sari how to protect themselves with swords, bows, staves, and the like. You seem to be proficient enough to do this, and they'll need to know somewhere down the road anyhow. You get me?"

Loric nodded his head towards Merle, and motioned the two other girls to follow him. Sari did, but with a dubious look on her face, not sure why he was already going to start. "We don't have any weapons or stuff other than your sword, how will we be able to train?"

"I brought some," Merle said with a cheeky grin at Hitomi. "Just had a feeling that it wouldn't hurt to be prepared this time around. We don't have Van around to protect us defenseless girls like last time do we eh?"

"I guess not," Hitomi said with a weary sigh as she followed the other two retreating figures, grabbing the various weapons from Merle's outstretched arms and dreading the session she knew was going to kick her butt. "But it sure was nice when we did."

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Escaflowne watched the two younger girls' mock battle with the Loric character with mild interest, perplexed why humans always found the need to fight so pertinent. The dragon understood that it would be prudent for the two girls to learn how to defend themselves properly, sometimes he would be off busy doing something else and would not be there to help, but the intensity the boy used troubled him. Perhaps Sari, who was raised in a fierce clan that had survived so long on their strength, would be able to handle this rigorous training Loric insisted on using, however Hitomi was completely different than the cat-girl.

She was much more peaceful and caring…battles had always upset the girl her last time here the dragon recalled, remembering his master's memories as if the were his own. She had always been athletic, her endurance and speed were always superior compared to the average, but her physical strength and dexterity were lacking and it showed as Loric trained them in swordplay. Escaflowne could see she was fatigued and frustrated, her block against Loric's attack failing yet again and her sword clattering to the ground, but she didn't try to give in. She just cursed in anger and walked over to pick up her sword and watch Sari complete the same move expertly.

The dragon's warm eyes watched the girl with a kindness he did not know he had, and he smiled inwardly as she pushed some of her honey-brown hair out of her face. His little one had chosen a good one, the dragon mused as he continued to watch her try the move again, and she was just what was needed for the trials to come. The dragon still was not sure what those trials were exactly but he had some good ideas, and they all included Atlantis in some form. If that mystery was involved, Escaflowne believed that only that girl's determination would help them stave off the disaster she foresaw the Ferra creating.

He saw her fail again but this time she did not take it well, and Escaflowne became overwhelmed with an urge to go and comfort the girl. He suppressed the urge, knowing it would not be appropriate at the time, but he thought again on why he felt so strongly drawn to this one little girl from the Mystic Moon. An idea swam into his head, one that the dragon now suspected to be a truth, but he too pushed it aside, knowing that this truth would need to be hidden from the others in case the Ferra ever catch them. They could not, would not Escaflowne decided fiercely, get a hold his little one, and if that meant keeping things from the rest of the group, he would do that.

Hitomi's raised voice drew his attention back to the scene unfolding before his maroon eyes, and he rose up from his crouched position to pacify things if needs be. He could hear clearly now, and it worried him that Hitomi was so upset…bad things tended to happen when she was very upset or distraught.

"Will you just back off Loric!" Hitomi yelled at the brown-haired boy, her hands clenched at her sides in anger. "I know I'm not good with this stupid sword, but I can't keep doing the same exercise! Let me try another weapon or something if you really are dead-set on this training session making me an incredible weapon master like you!"

"I don't want you to be a master Hitomi," Loric countered, his own voice struggling to stay calm. "But I wouldn't mind if you actually learn how to defend yourself half-way decently by the end of today. You don't even seem like you're trying, and you need to learn this so you won't die if one of us is somewhere else."

"I'm not even trying?" Hitomi asked quietly, her voice dangerously low, the tell-tale sign of her temper rising. "If I wasn't trying, would I still be here Loric! Would I still be out of breath, would I be this frustrated right now?"

"That's not what I meant by not trying," Loric answered sharply, his blue eyes bright in anger. "When you attack me, you have good enough form, but you aren't trying to hurt me. You don't go for the kill, and you need to if you want to survive in a battle, you're too concerned with hurting me to hit me correctly."

"I don't want to kill anyone," Hitomi said ardently, a memory of a Doppelganger dying coming to mind. "I saw too much of it before, I won't kill anyone Loric!"

"I thought you were supposed to be strong," Loric said in a disappointed voice, his eyes narrowing as he shook his head. "The stories always portrayed you as this goddess who came to Gaea and helped the Fanelian King stop the Destiny War from killing everybody. You were always so powerful and strong, why can't you see how important it is that you tra--"

Loric was interrupted when a quick hand slapped him across the face, causing his head to snap back. Rubbing his stinging cheek and contemplating how this girl had hit him twice in less than twenty-four hours, he turned a shocked and angry expression back to face the green-eyed girl. However, when he saw the tears flowing down her face, any angry thoughts he had towards her disappeared in an instant and his eyes widened in worry.

"I am not a story Loric," Hitomi said shakily as she shook with small sobs that wracked her frame. "I'm not some sort of heroine that saved all these people, or someone who was incredibly wise, or someone who's ever killed anyone before! I'm just what you see right here, an almost eighteen year old girl who has the unfortunate luck of seeing the most awful and disturbing visions. I-I'm not some fairy tale character who is all powerful, and I wish people would stop trying to see me as that! All I wanted to do was see Van one last time and tell him how much I care about him, but everything is so wrong and I can hardly stand it! Stop depending on me to save everyone again!"

She turned away then and ran the opposite direction of where Escaflowne was coming from, running back towards the small brook to get away from the staring eyes who wanted her to be some invincible hero she just wasn't. She could hear Sari yelling at her to come back, but she didn't…she just kept running until she couldn't hear them anymore. She collapsed next the brook, letting all of her frustrations, self-doubts, and worries run down her face and onto the soft grass that cushioned her.

Why didn't anyone understand just how scared she was right now? Everyone that had comforted her before was gone and the only person she had ever truly loved was gone, dead for all she knew. Sure, Merle said he wasn't, but she could have just been deluding herself to hide from the grim truth, and now those _monstrous_ Ferra were going to be after them after her little spectacle in Palas! It was too much for her to handle; she should be going to graduation parties and planning to pick out small furniture and other things for her dorm for goodness sakes, not trekking cross-country the mystical land of Gaea looking for a winged-young man who could be seventy years old for all she knew.

"Everything was all lined up," Hitomi said in a forlorn voice that sounded horrible to her. "And then my future just crashed and I come back here! I was ready to make him my past, move on with my life and try to love again, but he pulled me back here! I just-I just want a normal life again…I don't want to see anymore people I care about die or get hurt! Why won't it stop?"

She suddenly stopped her self-pity tirade and froze like a statue, the familiar light-headed feeling flowing over her and whisking her out of reality. She tried to fight it, not wanting to see the horrible vision she was sure would greet her once she awoke in her dreamland state, but it was too powerful for her emotional soul to fight off. Her green eyes dulled and she fell backwards, no longer able to hear a boy's voice calling for her, and was lost inside her mind once again.

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"You idiot," Sari said scathingly to Loric, who was running a troubled hand through his brown hair. "Men! You're all so clueless sometimes…didn't you figure that she wasn't going to be some sort of fairy tale when she actually showed up at your cell? She's dealing with enough, and nothing you just did helped her at all…I can't believe she kept it up as long as she did; I would have given up awhile ago. Well, are you going to go and apologize?"

Loric stared back at the seething kitten, his blue eyes gazing back at hers passively, before he said quietly, "I'm not very good with that sort of thing."

"Really?" Sari asked back, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "There's the surprise of the era…no kidding Loric! But even so, you need to try; you're the one who upset her so bad! Grandma, please tell him that he needs to go and patch things up with Hitomi, I'm not dealing with them squabbling at each other this entire trip!"

"You should go boy," Merle said, he lined face facing his youthful one. "She only gets worse the longer she stews, trust me. If I had a penny for every time Van said something like this to piss her off, I'd be richer than old Asturia by now. She's probably calmed down a bit by now though, she'll be easy to apologize to now more than ever."

Loric turned away and directed his attention towards the magnificent white dragon sitting next to Merle on its haunches. The maroon eyes were no longer so warm and kind as they bore into his eyes, but rather they were flinty and challenging…more dragon-like. "Should I go and retrieve her?" he asked softly, not looking away from those fierce eyes even though every instinct he had was screaming at him to do just that.

"_I believe you do need to,"_ Escaflowne answered back curtly, the tone giving Loric the impression of a very angry blacksmith whenever he was rude to a customer. _"But I will join you so you do not damage her fragile psyche anymore than you already have. She will have fled to the small brook, water calms her…"_

The dragon did not explain how he knew that Hitomi was relaxed by water, and Loric thought it prudent not to ask. Escaflowne had explained earlier that it did not know how it was aware of certain quirks about the green-eyed girl, it just did. Loric heaved a sigh and followed the white dragon back towards the brook where he had washed the dishes earlier that day. He was not looking forward to facing Hitomi after making her so upset…he had always been horrible at these things.

"_But Loric," a small girl said in a whine, her great grey eyes filling with mock anger. "You can't always be so angry at people! Then they'll think you're not a nice person. You need to work on your people skills!"_

"I guess I do Sara," Loric whispered to himself as the little girl's happy face swam back out of his vision and into his memories once more. "I guess I do."

"_You are troubled by the death of the family that cared for you are you not?"_ Escaflowne asked suddenly, the dragon's voice conveying that it already knew the answer. _"The Ferra murdered them to further your pain…and the guilt inside of you festers now."_

Loric opted to not respond, his blue eyes frosting over as the memory of the burning house and terrified screams of a little girl filled his mind's eye. He gave the dragon a terse nod, indicating a positive answer to the inquiry, and kept his eyes on the ground ahead of them.

"_I thought so…my little one would get that same look in his eyes whenever he remembered his home being destroyed. He lost so very much, sometimes the pain was too much for me to bear and I would nearly kill us both, but he blamed himself constantly until Hitomi was able to convince him it was not his fault that terrible things happened to his country and to his family. I think it was the hardest thing he ever admitted to…so young Loric, learn from Van Fanel's mistake. Do not let your thoughts destroy your sanity, but rather embrace them and share with those who you care for."_

"Who?" Loric answered bitterly, surprising himself with his self-pity. "Just who should I talk to about this Escaflowne? The only family I've ever had as just been murdered, and my real family died years ago…I have no one in this world."

"_You say that now because of the pain you feel, but once you open your eyes Loric, you will see that there are many people who wish to care for you. Losing those you love does not mean that there will not be more down the road who you will feel love for. Trust and Live Loric, and if you can do that, Love will come again."_

The wise, kind look once again returned to Escaflowne's great maroon eyes, and the white dragon let Loric mull over the thought-provoking words in silence, respecting the boy's need to sort out his own feelings by himself. After all, he was not the first boy Escaflowne had seen go through such atrocities as a child, and he would not be the last unfortunately. The pair walked in the comforting quiet for another five minutes before Loric spotted the honey brown hair he knew to belong only to Hitomi, and they both hurried over towards the still girl.

"Hitomi I--" Loric began before the words faltered in his mouth, knowing at once that something was wrong with the girl the way Escaflowne let out a loud growl and hurry to her side. When Loric saw her, he was so astonished he did nothing for a moment but stare at the girl. Her skin looked deathly pale and her eyes were wide open, any sparkling green she once had now replaced with a grayish color to match her pallor. She was breathing, but not moving at all other than that, her colorless eyes fixed on something that neither he nor the dragon beside him could see.

"Esacflowne!" he yelled needlessly loud due to his surprise. "What's wrong with her? We need to get her to a medical center or something or else she could…she's barely breathing and her skin looks like death oh Gods…why are you just standing there like some stu--"

"_We only need to carry her back to camp child,"_ the white dragon interrupted softly, fixing his calm eyes with Loric's frantic ones. _"She is no danger to herself, but it would be prudent that she be somewhere safe when she awakens. Hitomi is in the throws of a vision, an important one if it caused this reaction, but she should wake from it soon. Do not worry for her physical health Loric; we only need to be concerned with how her mind can handle the vision if it be a violent one."_

"Why?" Loric asked in short gasps as he controlled his quickly beating heart. "Could she suffer head trauma or something? Will her…will her sanity be crumbled? I remember a story when she saw the death of a Doppelganger and she nearly lost her mind…could that happen here?"

"_I do not think it will,"_ Escaflowne rumbled as Loric lifted the listless girl into his strong arms, careful to cradle her head in the crook of his arm. Escaflowne felt an unfamiliar pang of resentment flash through him towards the brown-haired youth, but he quickly ignored the feeling and focused on the situation at hand. _"She is much stronger than the stories give her credit for…she will be fine child. I just want Merle near her; she is the only one living who actually went through one of these episodes and has experience on how to treat her until she wakes. Come now, we best hurry."_

Escaflowne broke into a trot back towards the makeshift camp, leaving Loric to run after him, the dragon's great strides greatly surpassing his own quick ones. He looked down at the prone girl cradled in his arms, a protective feeling coursing through him that he had felt towards another pretty girl once, and he glared back ahead at the dragon's form in front of him, determined to do just what the dragon had said.

"I'll protect you Hitomi," Loric huffed to himself amidst his gasps for air as he ran faster than was comfortable for him. "I promise to protect you, just like I promised to protect Sara. I'll succeed this time though, you can count on that! I won't let your spirit down my little sister."

If he had not been running so quickly after the white dragon, he would have noticed a small, barely perceptible, glimmer of light flitter into the glade and 'smile' gently at his retreating form.

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"_Where am I?" Hitomi asked in a soft voice, momentarily forgetting what had happened beside the brook. "Wait, I'm in another vision! I remember being swept away from my friends in the woods and now I'm here…in a white city I seem to recall from a dream…"_

_She pushed herself off the ground, for she had been crouching in a similar position to the one by the tiny stream, and raised her green eyes to look at her current surroundings. The city, for that was what it was for sure, was built very much like the old cities of ancient Greece with great white marble making most of the buildings and homes. She could smell the sea air from the tiled plaza she was in, and she saw a white feather fall down in front of her, gleaming like it was alight. The sky was a brilliant blue, so much so she gasped in amazement, and to her left there was a great green field raised above the city, punctuated only by a great oak tree._

"_I know this place," Hitomi whispered to herself as she began to walk around, her feet floating as if on air. "I've been here before, and that tree…it's so familiar I know that I've se--"_

_She was interrupted by her own gasp as a winged woman flew over her head, carrying a small basket of fruit which she gave to two smaller winged beings…Draconian children. She knew where she was now, it being her second time visiting the great city in her dreams following the time she went here to convince Van he had a reason to live when his tortured soul fled here after a battle against the Dragon Slayers._

"_Atlantis…" Hitomi breathed, marveling at both the beauty of the city and at the knowledge that all of this would be reduced to ruins, ruins which she had also seen once. She looked around back at the tree, almost willing herself to see the figure that was waiting there for her. "Van!"_

_She hurried towards the field like she had once, passing through figures and buildings as if she were a ghost, and arrived on the field much sooner than normally possible. She could see his outline resting against the tree, his messy black hair obscuring his face, and she hurried towards him, the smile on her face beginning to waver as she grew closer to him. It was as if he was…wait, it was not a him at all!_

_Hitomi stopped in front of the figure, noting the female characteristics and the feminine face which now gazed though her…she felt her heart crack but forcefully pushed that feeling aside as she watched another Draconian pass though her, a very large male who walked with a regal quality to his step. The girl's face screwed up in what Hitomi thought was distaste and she could see a familiar gleam of anger spark in those deep maroon eyes._

"_I do not wish to talk with you father," the girl said in an angry tone, her face scrunching as she scowled at him owlishly. "You know where I stand on this issue, and I refuse to back down just because the rest of Atlantis believes this perversion will make them into Gods. Was not changing our appearance all those years ago not enough? Must we make this terrible machine to prove how great we are to humans?"_

"_You do not understand Camille," the giant of a man replied, his own brown eyes narrowing at his daughter. "If we have this power, we can create harmony amongst not only warring humans, but also amongst the Draconians and everyone else. Peace will be achieved and perfect happiness will be at hand because this power will grant every living beings wishes! It is something that not even the Gods can do my child!"_

"_Father," Camille answered in an aggrieved tone that her father could not hear her argument. "Perhaps the Gods did not want to create such a power because of the implications…not all humans or Draconians are good beings, and what of the Arref who we banished from our halls when we sprout wings on our backs? Surely their wishes would not benefit living creatures wishing for peace! Why can you not see the error and disaster such a power could make? Making a force from human thought and Draconian power to create a sentient power who would grant everyone's wishes? It is a perversion against nature father!"_

"_It will be done Camille," the man answered in a final voice, his eyes angered by his daughter's insolence. "And you will see how great a power it will be! We will give mankind and all Draconian kind an unending happiness only imagined in our dreams. You will see my heir, you will see."_

_The man marched off and spread his great wings as he pushed off the field and into the air. Hitomi watched him fly away before returning her attention back towards the still fuming girl, her delicate hands clenched at her side before she collapsed onto the ground in tears. Hitomi gazed down at Camille's sobbing form, and was reminded so much of Van it nearly killed her to keep watching the scene. She was about to reach a hand out to comfort the girl when a voice shocked her so bad out of the act._

"_That was not the last argument the princess Camille of Atlantis would have with her father, King Connell," a gentle voice said, causing Hitomi to whirl around quickly and stare at the older version of the sobbing girl. The woman's eyes were still blazing with life, but they harbored a terrible guilt and her beautiful face was lined with worry wrinkles. "I had many more arguments with my father, and it was only after the power of Atlantis destroyed our empire that he saw the truth of what I had been saying all those years. It was his dying statement…I became Queen after that and it is what happened during my reign of a broken race that I learned why I had been so horribly correct."_

"_You-you," Hitomi stuttered at the regal woman in front of her. "You're a queen? I didn't know that Atlantis had royalty…"_

"_Well," Camille said in an amused voice. "We did…a line that is all but extinct now due to the Arref's meddling. That is why I need your help, why the Draconians need your help Hitomi, seeress from the planet Earth. A terrible time is approaching Gaea, and after that Earth that we were unable to prevent because of a war that nearly destroyed us all."_

"_I thought the Draconians were almost all but extinct," Hitomi asked in what she knew sounded like a child's voice. _

"_No we are not," Camille replied in a grave tone, her maroon eyes fixing Hitomi's green ones with a look. "But we are greatly diminished from what we once were. My people now hide in the ruins of Atlantis, safe from a world that hates and fears us. That is where you must go child…you must go towards the lost city of Atlantis."_

"_The Mystic Valley?" Hitomi asked incredulously, her eyes going wide. "But, I was there already once and we didn't see any Draconians expect I saw Van's mother in a spirit form. There aren't any Draconians there anymore your Highness!"_

"_Please call me Camille," the queen said with a wave of her hand, an annoyed look at being referred to as royalty passing over her face, just like Van's when Hitomi would call him 'your highness' for fun. "And I'm afraid you are mistaken my dear, there are many of us there you just did not look and they did not reveal themselves. I believe if they knew who you had accompanying you there, they would have made themselves known much sooner. But, they did not, and now you must go there to find the Key before the Arref do."_

"_Key?" Hitomi asked in a small voice, her hands wringing at the sides of her skirt. "Why me?"_

"_Because you are much more powerful than you think you are," Camille answered in a kind voice full of confidence. "When I first heard the explanation to why Atlantis was destroyed, I knew then that a time would come when the means to control the power which my kind foolishly made would come as well. That time is upon Gaea now, so that is why I preserved myself in a memory to aid whomever would go searching for the Key…a search you have already undertaken to find the Half-Draconian king. You will find the final piece of your vision there, and you will find the answers you so desperately seek."_

"_Will I find Van there?" Hitomi asked hopefully, wondering if he was the last piece of her vision because he was the last to appear. "Will he be there along with this Key?"_

"_Yes," Camille said in a mysterious voice, her eyes twinkling in a sort of amusement. "The lost Draconian King will be found there as well…you must find the Princess and one-eyed man from your vision before you can head that way however. The way to Atlantis will be revealed when you have the keys to Gaea's victory, and then the Key to Atlantis will be found much easier than you might think."_

_Camille gazed down kindly at the distraught girl before her, sensing the fear and determination coming from her. She reached down and wrapped the green-eyed girl in a motherly hug and whispered in her ear, "Just believe in the love you have for him child. It is okay to be angry or scared at what is happening to this world; just do not give into the despair the Arref or Ferra wish you to give into. I believe you are the only one who will be able to guide the Key in the correct path to peace. Can I trust in you Hitomi Kanzaki?"_

"_Yes, you can Camille," Hitomi said in a strong voice after a moment of hesitation and self-doubt. "I'll find this Key and I'll find Van…I know I will. I just need to believe everything will be all right in the end and that I'll get to him before those Ferra do. I know we can."_

"_Then you can leave now child," Camille said in a relieved voice, sensing the questions form on the girl's lips but silencing them before they were voiced. "I cannot reveal more to you now child, but you will discover the answers are not as far off as you may have thought they were. Just believe Hitomi."_

_Before Hitomi could say anything further, the world around her, including the two forms of Camille, swirled around her and she was left staring at the black cloaked Ferra from her previous dream before her. The creature pulled out a gleaming white feather and waved it tauntingly in front of Hitomi, but she gazed back stonily at the Ferra and said in a strong voice, "I won't let you win Zorbane. Now I know what I fight, and I'm not afraid anymore…and I won't be again!"_

_The creature in front of her faltered and dropped the feather, slits glaring at her angrily and he let out an ear-splitting screech that made Hitomi scream before everything disappeared again._

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Zorbane awoke from his trance with a painful scream and a string of expletives that would have made a sailor on the Mystic Moon cringe. He looked wildly around the room he had been in before he felt the girl's presence in the dream realm and had launched headlong into her vision like he had before, but this time she had been protected by the Draconian magic and when she had reemerged she was no longer frightened by him. That more than anything she could have learned bother him the most, but he pushed those troubling thoughts aside as he heard the familiar _whoosh_ of the black cloaks his kind wore as they swept into the room to check on him.

"Are you fine my lord?" Kul'sac said in his sibilant tone, his cowl pulled back to reveal the scabbed skin underneath. "Your scream sounded as if you were being tortured, does the girl grow stronger than we anticipated?"

"No," Zorbane answered in an angry hiss, whirling around to face his cohorts. "She is being aided by the ancient Draconian magic now though…something that could be a problem down the road. I want that girl killed the moment she brings back the lost Fanelian king Kul'sac…she could destroy all that we have spent an era creating. Keep the emperor focused on the Black Rose, and I'll make sure this girl is taken care off."

As Kul'sac bowed before his leader and left the chamber, another voice punctuated the silence. "Is that where I come in Zorbane?"

"Yes De'miraz," Zorbane said as he twirled to face the female Ferra before him, a cold smile playing on his scarred lips. "And try not to let your last failure happen again. You will be meeting Dilandau and his troops in Bras'doch in five days. I'm pushing back the date because of you're little incident in Maboch which you need to clean up."  
"Yes my Lord," De'miraz answered in an angered tone. "I will make sure this Loric de Jesep is caught and taken care of."

"Do not worry about that," Zorbane said with a negligent wave of his hand. "If the seeress rescued him, he is no doubt still with her. Why she wants a mere swordsman is beyond me, but I want you to go and make sure Moosta tightens his grip on Maboch. Do you understand me?"

"Yes my lord," De'miraz said in an obedient tone, even though her black slit-like eyes were screaming something different. "I will do as you wish…tell Dilandua to be ready to leave in five days."

After all the Ferra had swept from the room, Zorbane turned back once again to his scrolls of ancient Atlantean scriptures and ran a hand over his bald scalp. He knew that he had planned everything according to what those legends said about the Key, but the seeress's new attitude towards him troubled him a little bit. If she was not halted soon, she could develop into a potential problem. He gazed out of the chamber's window over the capitol of Zaibach, Utonia, and narrowed his slits at the world of humans of which he so despised. Once everything fell into place, he would be rid of their infernal stench at long last.

"That Key will be mine regardless of that girl," Zorbane whispered to himself as he turned around to exit the room and his worries about his carefully constructed plans. "No little girl is going to change the course of fate which as been foretold thousands of years ago. Not even the love of two easily swayed hearts."

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Hitomi awoke to find four very concerned faces looking at her; each so strange that any other normal seventeen year old girl would have freaked and leapt up screaming bloody murder. She gingerly put a hand to her head, letting the minor headache that accompanied the visions to wash over her for a moment before she turned her attention back to the four, smiling t their concern. It almost was as if she had returned to the regular time it should have been and Millerna was looking over as well as Allen and Merle to make sure she was all right. And even though Escaflowne looked nothing like Van, the dragon's presence made up for that and she felt like he was right there by her side.

"Are you all right Hitomi?" Sari asked in a worried tone, her blue eyes reminding the green-eyes girl of Millerna so much. "You were out for a while you know."

"We were so worried about you," Loric said in a deep tone that sounded like Allen. "I kept thinking of how much I needed to apologize for my behavior and I couldn't forgive myself if you had…not known before…"

"Oh shut up you two," Merle rasped, whacking both on their heads with her paw, reminding Hitomi of that feisty kitten she had known form long ago. "She's fine, probably a slight headache, but fine nonetheless. Jeez! So Hitomi, you all right or what?"

"_Child I hate to ask,"_ Escaflowne began in a kind voice that Hitomi found more comforting than anything else. _"But, what did you see in your vision? It was important was it not?"_

Hitomi nodded as she pushed herself onto her elbows and looked around at the others. She told them all that she had seen and learned, particularly about this 'Key' Camille had told her to find. Throughout her tale, the others remained surprisingly quiet, and before she knew it, Hitomi was done and waiting for their reaction. Only Merle showed any kind of reaction during the story, and now she was smiling in a way that told Hitomi she believed her fully, and Escaflowne nodded its majestic head in accordance to what Camille had said as well.

"So," Loric said finally, an expressionless look on his face as his eyes were still searching for an answer. "This queen said that we need to go to the Mystic Valley and that's where we'll find Van Fanel? I'm not going to lie about this, but it sounds impossible…however, you did it once before and I promise to repay my debt to you for saving my life. If this is where you were told we need to go, then I'll follow you Hitomi."

"While I'm not as enthused about protecting you as this moron here," Sari said as she jerked a thumb in Loric's direction. "I did promise to help my grandma find her old friend, so I'll come too. If, for nothing else, to yell at this Van Fanel for getting himself into such a mess and leaving us to clean it up."

Hitomi smiled at everyone, familiar warmth filling her heart as she was helped to her feet by Merle and Loric. She saw that they had gathered everything up already, and she walked over to grab her own pack and hoisted it over her shoulders. She began to walk down the path out of Maboch, pausing to look back over her slim shoulder and smile at the other four still standing by the tree she woke up next to.

"Well," she called out in a playful but determined voice. "Are you coming or not? We've got a princess afraid of her world to find and then a one-eyed man…I'm not wasting anymore time worrying about it. I'm not letting the Ferra win this battle, I promise that if it kills me."

She turned back around and continued to walk, smiling as four now recognizable footfalls accompanied her on a road that led to the Zaibach Empire and to the future of Gaea.

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**A/N: **A bit shorter than usual, but I had to do some rearranging with the chapters to cut out some useless crap. The next one will be pretty long because I'm combining two chapters into one! What does that mean for all of yous? Well, it means Van will be entering the picture sooner than it was originally so, hip hip hooray!

I'm still not sure if I liked this chapter…but I needed to propel the story so here it is. Again, review please people! I love getting your feedback so much you don't even know! My reviewers for my Teen Titan fic are losing this particular battle because you guys just rock, so more updates for you!

Until next time, which will be a bit longer because I have my finals and such so give me two weeks or so please! Adieu!

Osco


	8. The Princess Afraid of her World

**A/N: **It feels so good to be done with school for a little bit…so sorry this took so long to get out! I work in retail and holiday season is pretty much hell for us…that and I'm working more hours than my dad right now ! I'll try to be better in the future but for now, here's the story! Enjoy!

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**Key to Atlantis**

**Chapter Seven: The Princess Afraid of her World:**

Traversing across Gaea did not take Hitomi and her band nearly as long as she thought it would. Coupled with Escaflowne's method for travel (flying around four different people despite its not so large frame) and Merle's expansive knowledge of the lands of Gaea, the band made their way out of Maboch without any incident. Now they were on road towards a small kingdom of Zaiboch south of the destroyed Fanelia, a peculiar path which no one questioned because it was the pendant that pointed them in that direction. Hitomi had a few doubts floating around her mind about trusting the pendant absolutely, a few that she was sure some of the others had as well, but she did not voice them in case they would suddenly decide to turn around.

Loric did not want to head anywhere near Zaiboch-he made that clear plenty of times whenever he voiced his worry for Hitomi's safety-and Sari was also apprehensive about trekking into enemy territory, so Hitomi did not want to lose their already shaky agreement with false worries. Deep down, the green-eyed girl knew the path they took was the correct one, trusting her feelings as before, but she could not ward off that pesky feeling of dread that now accompanied her. She heaved a heavy sigh and looked over the slumbering group as they camped out just outside the border of this Zaiboch kingdom they were entering on the morrow.

The only one who did not seem troubled in her sleep was Merle, her wizened face frozen in a calm expression in sleep, and Hitomi smiled sadly at the sight. The cheerfulness Merle exuded was an act, psychology class in high school had taught the girl that much, a defense mechanism used to hide the pain the cat-woman most obviously was in. Everything she ever cared about had been destroyed when this world was thrown into chaos…everything she ever loved…

"She was in love with him," Hitomi whispered to herself miserably, hiding her face by bringing her knees to chest level and resting her head on her kneecaps. "It wasn't just some stupid crush like I thought…it was love. And I took that away from her…and then I hurt him so much when I kissed Allen. Everything she ever cared for is gone and was happy on Earth all that time…it's just not fair! What made me think I deserved him more than she does? At least she stayed….I left because I was afraid of losing what was familiar to me back home…maybe even afraid of what I was feeling. I don't deserve to tell him what I feel, but she does."

"_Thinking out loud child?" _Escaflowne asked Hitomi in the gentlest voice the dragon could muster. Hitomi looked up and met the maroon eyes with her own tear-filled ones then let out a sigh and wiped those tears away.

"You could say that," she said as she finished and gave the dragon a sad smile. "Just being silly really. Nothing you need to worry about Escaflowne."

"_Are you sure child?" _the dragon asked back, fixing his eyes on hers and probing the truth out of them. _"Because I think you do…I was known to be a good listener for the Fanelian kings of old."_

"Not Van?" Hitomi asked with a sardonic smile, then an amused one when Escaflowne answered.

"_That boy never spoke about his feelings…much too stubborn to ask me for anything besides strength in battle; one of his less admirable qualities if I may add."_

After she was able to force the giggles to subside, Hitomi ended up spilling all of her fears and doubts to the passive white dragon, not excluding the ones she had just voiced to herself. Talking to someone else about these fears actually helped her see just how foolish most of them were; it helped her realize that self-doubt could be extremely destructive if not taken care of before those doubts grew out of control festering inside one's mind.

"_I think you now see just how foolish some of these fears were child," _the white dragon answered after Hitomi had emptied her mind of all the thoughts swimming therein. _"And as to the ones which still dwell in your mind, that fear you have is unsubstantiated. My little one may have had others, who care for him like you care for him, but it was either for the wrong reasons or it was misguided. You should only concern yourself with whom he cared for…and that I know for a fact was and still is you child. Perhaps Merle did love him at one point of her life, but I believe she now recognizes that it was a very different love than what exists between you and him. _

"_Ever since she was a child, Merle as been scorned and rejected for being one of the beast-people. When she met my little one, he treated her with care and sisterly love, because he too understood what it felt like to be an outcast merely because of being born different. Being deprived of that due to her families' death, she latched onto that and as she grew, she convinced herself that she loved him as more than a brother…but the years have taught her better. She has loved others throughout her life, and as learned what it feels to be loved back as well, so do not think that she still cares for him more than a brother Hitomi…you have plenty to worry about as it is."_

"How do you know all this?" Hitomi asked after a moment of silence, dumbfounded that the dragon was aware of so much. "You just came back into contact with her a week or two ago!"

"_During the times where she and I have flown together alone, I have come to understand much about her. She, like you, has much on her mind she needed to talk with someone about those things lest she go mad. You and she are not all that different really; perhaps that is why the two of you butted heads constantly your last visit here."_

Hitomi merely nodded her head as she played with the grass with a bare foot, not looking up into those great eyes for fear she might go talk about those fears all over again. Neither spoke for a moment longer until a thought and question formed in Hitomi's mind, begging to be asked.

"Why do you call Van your 'little one' all the time? He's not a little boy you know, he'd probably get angry if he knew you called him that."

"_I call him my little one because he is just that. I have existed much longer than he has, and he was the youngest king to pilot me to date…I cannot help but feel a small tug of protection concerning him…a tug that has now turned into a pull now that I occupy this form. I care for him very deeply child…that is why I call him my little one…he is just that."_

"Oh," Hitomi said finally, digesting the words the dragon had uttered before a small smile of happiness and rebelliousness overtook the frown on her face at long last. "I guess he's my little one too uh?" She started to laugh at the thought of her calling Van that if he was around, Escaflowne obviously finding it humorous as well as it let out an unmistakable growling laugh. She got up after the laughter had left her for the second time that night and hugged the white dragon softly around its sinuous neck.

"Thanks for cheering me up Esca," Hitomi said affectionately, using a nickname she had invented to let the dragon know she also cared deeply for it. "Among other things I mean."

"_My pleasure child,"_ the white dragon responded as he nudged her towards her bedroll for sleep. _"Now get some rest. We have a full day ahead of us when the morning comes, and you will need your wits about you if we are to succeed in whatever challenge may lay ahead for us. Get some sleep child."_

The dragon felt something within himself swell when she tossed him one last smile, one that seemed to outshine the stars to him, before she did lay down to rest. He watched her until she fell into slumber, and then for some time afterwards, watching the rhythmic pattern of her breathing and her light brown hair sway with the gentle breeze. He took the blanket meant for him in his teeth and draped it over the sleeping girl to ward off the breeze further, explaining to himself that he did not a blanket and it was silly of them to give him one.

Something clicked in his mind as he turned back around, and he lifted his majestic head to gaze at the stars above and then at the two moons hanging above Gaea in a perfect duo. It was something that was at once so simple and yet so Gaea shattering that it took the dragon a moment to digest the information that had mysteriously revealed itself to him. He shook his great head and softly chuckled at the way fates worked from time…why would a machine refer to itself as one sex or another after all?

"_I only hope those Atlanteans know what it is they were doing when they arranged this. And I hope that Hitomi does not hate me when she discovers what I am now hiding from her…"_

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Dilandau was in a rage as he tramped up and down the halls of Bras'doch's greatest city palace, Nadde, swearing in the most obscene words at any who tried to calm him down. One of his poor Elitists paid dearly for it, leaving with a severed thumb and forefinger after he tried to placate his commander. He swung open one of the main doors that led to King Valon's main audience chambers, glaring at all the advisors and court members pass him. None knew why he was so angry, but thought it best to avoid the mysterious, bloodthirsty, soldier and let him by without question as he stormed off.

It was De'miraz he was so angry with, he acknowledged as he hurried down to the main chamber, because she not only was making him wait longer than originally because of a mistake she made, but also treated him like a child. Him! There wasn't a man in the entirety of Gaea as less child-like as he…it insulted not only his pride but also every inch of his being that she treated him as such. He had half a mind to cut her down the instant she arrived here in Bras'doch with her Ferra, that would teach her to not slight him for sure, but Dilandau knew that would possibly lead to his own demise. He would not have worried about that as much a week ago, but now with the prospect of finding Van Fanel he suddenly placed much more value in his own life.

He was able to calm himself down some as he thought of the various torture methods he had planned for the filthy half-breed, calm enough to catch the end of an argument between the King himself and his treacherous little whelp. He put a halt to his perverse fantasies as he quietly opened the door to the audience chamber to find an angry looking King Valon facing off with his beautiful, blue-haired daughter. He could tell the two were near the end of their argument, the exasperated face on the old man facing off with the angered one of his daughter, so he decided to end it permanently by waltzing into the chamber as if he had not a care in the world.

"Hello your Grace," Dilandau said in an oily voice had he entered and bowed before the startled monarch and princess. "I heard raised voices and was…concerned. I trust everything is all right."

"Everything is fine Lord Dilandau," King Valon said in a deep, calm voice as he fixed his grey, hawk-like eyes on the albino before him. "I thank you for your concern however. Rynna and I were merely discussing the poverty levels in Bras'doch; she's very passionate about treating all our less fortunate citizens with the proper care after all. She was just leaving though, weren't you my daughter?"

"Yes father," Rynna said in a downcast voice, her purple eyes full of hurt as she looked up at her father before leaving. "Thank you for your audience in this issue."

She swept out of the room quickly as to avoid Dilandau completely and was out the door in less than a minute, her white dress billowing after her. The man turned his ruby gaze back towards the King and took in again the impressive image Valon projected. He stood tall at over six feet tall, and had broad soldiers and strong arms that rested constantly at his hips regally. His deep silver hair was shot through with streaks of black, and he had a hooked nose that gave him a fierce look when his grey eyes were narrowed. Even though Dilandau was renowned as a terrifying individual, the King showed no fear as he gazed back at the maniac.

"To bad she had to leave ever so quickly," Dilandau said with mock sincerity as he stared back at the grey-haired man. "But then again, I'm sure you're happy with that…now no one can actually know what it was you two were arguing over. You're a terrible liar your Majesty, one of the downfalls of being so noble."

"If you have come to threaten me Dilandau," Valon said calmly as pushed himself out of his throne. "Then I am afraid you will fail in that endeavor. You have no idea what it is you are insinuating you know, so please spare not only myself, but yourself as well, the ridiculous menacing."

Dilandau scowled at the King, who was currently pouring himself a glass of rich, red wine from a flask into an ornate goblet with a woodland crest adorning it, but did not show any of the anger bubbling beneath his skin. The King took a long sip of the wine and then smiled coldly at the leader of the Elitists who occupied and terrorized his country.

"I believe you need to prepare for the arrival of the Emperor's Ferra patrol Lord Dilandau," Valon said, locking his grey eyes with the younger man's red ones. "If you are to be prepared to leave with them and hunt whatever it is you are hunting, then you must stock supplies and train your select men harder than usual. My daughter will understand that you must 'duck out' of your assignment to guard her during this time, so do not worry about that. You are dismissed, even though you did not have permission to enter in the first place."

Dilandau gave the King a short and stiff bow before marching angrily out of the chamber, his black boots clicking loudly against the floor as he left. Valon heaved a sigh to himself the moment he knew the wild commander was out or earshot and collapsed back onto his ornate iron throne, fingers rubbing his temple in soothing circles to try and banish the buzzing inside his head. It was hard enough to deal with a rebellious daughter by himself, but to now also have to hide that rebelliousness so she wouldn't be killed for treason? He was getting to old for things like this.

Valon rose from his throne and walked briskly over to the large window which overlooked the entire city of Nadde, the capitol of Bras'doch, and his scowl retracted into a look of sadness as he stared out over his impoverished nation. He did not agree with Zaiboch's emperor anymore than his daughter did, the taxes and other negative factors causing nearly every major sovereign in the empire to be poor beyond belief, but he knew that outwardly voicing those thoughts was foolish and asking for a death wish.

"I don't know where she gets it," he mumbled to himself as he turned away from the window and started to walk out of the main chamber to his private rooms. "Her mother wasn't nearly so vocal about these things…at least not in public. That child is going to be the death of me if she doesn't learn to act like a princess…she'll be the death of herself if she doesn't learn…"

Valon spoke no more to himself as he trekked towards his own chambers for some well-deserved solitude, his own thoughts left stewing in his mind, and his eyes became unfocused. The sky outside turned a violent gray and he let himself be steered away from his room as one of his personal soldiers mentioned some interesting characters that had been recently caught in his city. His eyes looked back towards his daughter's chambers as passed them, only hoping she didn't hear any of this and did something foolish again.

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"I can't believe we are actually going through with this crazy plan," Sari muttered loudly as she slipped on a heavy balaclava that covered everything but her sharp azure eyes. "This is the capitol of a major Zaiboch country and here we are, waltzing straight into town to find someone who for all we know exists only in Hitomi's mind! I want you all to know that when we get caught and are executed for treason, I'm going to say told you so until the noose takes me!"

"Relax Sari," Hitomi said with a smile as she slipped on her own disguise, her makeshift cloak and gloves to hide her hands from sight. "Have a little faith would ya? Loric is going into town first with Merle, posing as respectable merchants, and we'll follow from behind…posing as a Ferra and its servant…you by the way are the servant so I order you to not whine anymore for the duration of this mission."

Loric chuckled lightly as he applied a skin darkening agent to his pale complexion to match the dark goatee and eyebrows Hitomi had already given him with the help of her mascara. Sari merely glared coldly at the green-eyed girl, her blue eyes the only visible part of her face showing because of the balaclava, and stalked away to stand beside the wagon Escaflowne had received to serve as part of Merle and Loric's front as merchants…it even had some goods still hidden inside it.

"We'll be fine," Merle said as she approached the two humans, her own disguise hiding her fur and tail effectively from view of a passerby, her wily grin directed towards the two young adults. "Escaflowne's plans are almost always foolproof after all. I act as Loric's old and senile benefactor and he finds out as much about this 'princess' Hitomi has seen as he sells the goods we have to customers. Once we have some decent information, you and Sari, disguised as a patrolling Ferra and its serf, will make your way towards that big palace I see and get into it. Once in, you'll let me and Loric in, who will be waiting towards the back gate, and we find this princess and maybe kidnap if we need to. Then the dragon will fly down and carry us all out of there and we make our way towards this one-eyed man. Should work…"

"_It will work as long as each of you play your part well and without cause for suspicion,"_ Escaflowne rumbled into each companion's head, his eyes showing nothing but confidence as he looked at each one. _"And if things should go awry, I will be there to help…although I should be a last resort for I will certainly alert the Ferra of our position."_

Everyone, Sari included, nodded their head at the white dragon as he propelled himself into the air with a mighty push and disappeared from sight in the clouds. Hitomi frowned at the gray and gloomy sky above them, hoping rain wouldn't fall because that would ruin both Merle's and Loric's disguises, but sighed in resignation at the thought that at least Escaflowne would be well hidden up there. She finished the last touches on her own costume and stood up to gain the opinion of it from the others; they could not afford a mistake due to a poor costume at this point.

Both Loric and Sari nodded in approval, both just commenting that she keep her hood down at all times and her hands out of sight before going back to their own ministrations. Merle came up to Hitomi and pinned the cloak in certain places so it would not move to reveal her face, which had some makeup on it to look like a Ferra at a glance but if anyone got a good glimpse of her she would be discovered immediately…makeup can only do so much after all.

"Make sure you don't talk unless you must," Merle said seriously to Hitomi as she made the adjustments. "If you have to talk, make sure it's as raspy and deep as you can manage. You should be able to just use your hands though and people will understand to get out of the way…you also might want to rub some more of that trash we have on the cloak too…not that you don't smell bad to begin with, but every little bit helps."

Hitomi gave the cat a sardonic smile as she pulled the hood over her face and allowed Merle to pin that into position as well. "You do think this will work don't you Merle?" she asked with a wavering voice as she tried to make her throat dry so rasping would be easier by breathing quickly without swallowing.

"I think it will in a way," Merle said nonchalantly as she continued to pin. "I don't really care about the dangers, as long as it helps to find Lord Van…I owe him a big hit upside the head for being so stubborn and stupid last time I saw him! You just focus on what's happening now though Hitomi, and later after we have this princess, what happens next. Keep working on making you voice raspy…do you think you can emulate De'miraz's voice?"

"Yeah," Hitomi rasped out, happy by the approving gaze Merle gave her.

"I was wrong about you Hitomi Kanzaki," Merle said with a strange smile on her face as she watched Hitomi straighten up into a stance that De'miraz had taken back in Palas. "You aren't as dumb and selfish as I once thought."

"Thanks Merle," Hitomi said sarcastically as she lowered the hood slightly to look at the older cat-woman before her. However, one glance at Merle's face quickly changed Hitomi's mind about the elder just mocking her with the earlier statement.

"I mean it Hitomi," Merle said as she started to walk away back towards Loric who was calling her over so they could start their daring plan. "I was very wrong about you…and I want you to know now, in case anything goes wrong in there and we all die, that I'm happy that Van chose you in the end…you're as crazy and stubborn as he is! And I want you to keep looking for him even if anything happens to the rest of us…take Escaflowne and try to find him on your own…he needs you more than any of us after all."

Hitomi was about the protest to Merle's macabre order when she was whirled around and Sari dragged her away. Merle sat down on the cart and Loric dragged it towards the main gate of the city…of Nadde. Both her and the cat-girl held their breaths as the other two showed the papers and goods they had to the main guards about a mile or so ahead, waiting to see those doors open which would signal that the others got in all right. What seemed to take an eternity actually took only a few seconds and the doors opened, letting two odd looking merchants into the impoverished city, and both girls let out a sigh of relief as they rose from their hiding spots and headed towards the city from a different route.

Both girls did not let themselves be seen by any city guards wandering a bit off their own trails, and after a lengthy amount of time, made their way to the older part of the citadel wall Escaflowne had spotted yesterday when he scouted the area for weaknesses. Hitomi followed the instructions the dragon was putting into her head and made her way over to the old and seemingly abandoned pile of broken wagons that lay against old looking wall. Soon enough, Hitomi found the narrow opening that she and Sari could force themselves through, and she smirked to Sari as she showed the small opening into Nadde, capitol of Bras'doch.

"How could they not know about this?" Sari asked as she shimmied and wiggled her way through the crevice, Hitomi following closely behind. "Just think, if their enemies knew about this, Bras'doch would fall so easily! Are all Zaiboch monarchies this stupid!"

"Well Sari," Hitomi answered as the two both stumbled out of the crack and into Nadde. "Who does Zaiboch have to fear? All of their enemies have been destroyed and are now under their control…they have an empire like the Romans on the Mystic Moon did a long time ago. So, naturally, if you have no one to fear, you get complacent and focus your worry and effort on something, usually money matters because empires are notorious for guzzling up resources and monetary assets to fund the large army they use to intimidate people. Whoever rules over this country probably as other worries besides reinforcing older parts of this old wall when his or her empire as the largest army around. They probably never expected two girls to use this to sneak into the city anyway."

"How do you know all that?" Sari asked a dumb-founded tone apparent in her voice and in her confused eyes. "You sound like one of the old military advisors from the clan."

"Oh well…I um," Hitomi stumbled as she turned a bright shade of red underneath her cloak. "When I first got back I um…well I took some military history classes and also a bunch of political science classes as well…you know just in case I ever…well in case I--"

"You took them in case you ever got back to Gaea didn't you?" Sari interrupted in an amused voice, her eyes twinkling at Hitomi in a clever way. "You know, so you could aid Van if you were to ever _marry_ him! You really are hopeless Hitomi!"

"Yeah well…anyway shush," Hitomi said embarrassedly at being caught by Sari. She had signed up for those classes immediately after she returned from Gaea for her junior year, and continued to take them throughout her senior year as well. She had told her parents because she was interested in politics, and frankly, by the end of senior year she was. She had planned on studying political science in college and becoming a diplomat or military advisor for Japan…she had after all seen a real-life war and could draw upon her own experiences.

Originally though, she had taken those classes specifically for Van Fanel…curse that gorgeous smile of his!

Sari immediately sobered up as the two started to make their way through the crowded streets of Nadde's marketplace in search of a very tanned and obnoxious street vendor. Hitomi was surprised by how much her disguise had worked; she was finding nearly no opposition from soldiers who, more often than not, took to turning around immediately the other way rather than ask what she was doing there. She smirked slightly under the shadow of her cloak and continued to allow Sari to guide her, looking to others as if she was gliding rather than walking sightlessly through the streets, looking for people who were disobeying the Zaiboch Empire in some fashion.

The marketplace was a noisy, boisterous place, and Hitomi found herself struggling to listen for Loric's familiar voice as the pair wove in and out of the crowd. After a quarter of an hour had passed without incident, Hitomi felt a slight tug on the hem of her robe from Sari and followed the new direction the cat-girl was heading. Hitomi spotted a dark alleyway to her left and veered off the wait there while Sari went to see if any information had turned up concerning the 'princess' from her vision. The alleyway smelled something awful and reminded Hitomi of one of those cheesy horror movies where the innocent girl has to fight for her life against the crazed murderer, but she didn't feel any kind of fear as she waited silently for Sari. She, after all, was one of those crazed creatures at the moment and they never feared the dark places in peoples' imaginations.

She was in the middle of one of her many fantasies about finding Van when she both felt and heard Sari sneak over beside her once more. "Well?" she asked quietly as she leaned down to hear what the blue-eyed girl said. To anyone passing by, it looked as if a Ferra was receiving information from a spy which in a way was true.

"Nothing yet," Sari replied equally quiet. "There is a princess who lives here…she's the daughter of King Valon, but she isn't allowed outside of the castle. Loric didn't get her name or anything…but he did find out something important. The Elitists are here Hitomi…their commander as well."

"Dilandau!" Hitomi hissed back, her voice already full of dread.

"Yep," Sari answered. "I guess he is this princess's bodyguard or something…she's promised to Emperor Salodin's nephew who incidentally is the Salodin's heir. If she really is this princess from your vision, we my have a bigger issue of kidnapping her than we originally anticipated."

"I don't…" Hitomi began as she clutched the warm pendant beneath her robes as a feeling of light-headedness started to overtake her. "I don't think we are supposed to kidnap her Sari…we are…we are supposed to…get…help from…"

She couldn't finish her thought as another vision clouded her sight and senses for a moment. She saw a sad and slight looking girl around her own age staring forlornly out of a window at a city. Hitomi could recognize the city as Nadde now, but turned her attention back to the girl who was playing with her long, bluish-silver hair. Her large eyes fixed themselves on Hitomi and she found herself gasping at their color.

They were deep lavender…and so vibrant they didn't seem as if they could be entirely human. She was a conflicted girl, Hitomi could tell instantly due to her vision state of mind, but she wanted to help her people and others overcome the hardships Zaiboch was imposing upon them. She wanted to rebel against her own country! Hitomi gasped in realization that this girl, this princess of Bras'doch, was in fact the princess afraid and disgusted of her world from that fateful augury on graduation night.

Hitomi opened her eyes to find Sari looking at her worriedly, glancing back and forth to make sure they were still alone. "Sari, are you okay?" Hitomi ventured as she shook away the last remnants of her small revelation.

"Am I okay!" Sari hissed furiously as she drug Hitomi further into the dark alleyway and away from prying eyes. "I'm not the one who went all stiff and zoned out for like five minutes! Anyway, did you see anything worth anything?"

"Yes!" Hitomi exclaimed in an excited whisper. "The princess Loric was told about is the one we need…but I think she'll want to help us Sari! She doesn't like what her empire is doing to the common people…I think she wants to rebel against Salodin and the Ferra!"

"But she's a Zaiboch princess," Sari stated heatedly, as if that automatically made this princess of Bras'doch an evil person. "You can't seriously be expecting to just let her travel freely beside us Hitomi! She'll betray us all!"

Hitomi fixed the cat girl with a look that even the cloaks shadow couldn't hide, her green eyes boring into Sari's. "I thought that you were more intelligent than that Sari," Hitomi said finally with a sad sigh. "Just because a person was born a certain way…or to a certain group or people or race….it doesn't mean that they will automatically turn out like everyone thinks they will. Draconians are not evil monsters, the Beast-folk are not savage and uncouth people, and not all Zaiboch people are natural liars and betrayers. I think Gaea is in a desperate need of this lesson, and if I must, I'll start with the people I'm traveling with."

Sari was silent as she stared back at Hitomi, for once in her life, not able to find a single witty comeback to combat the seeress's harsh but truthful words. She simply nodded to the brown-haired girl after a few minutes silence, showing that she may not agree completely, but she'd trust Hitomi's judgment and interpretation of her vision.

"Right then," Hitomi said, pulling herself back up to her Ferra stance. "Go tell Loric and Merle we're going to go through with our plan…I know this girl is who we need. I'll let Escaflowne know and wait for you here before we make our way towards the palace."

"What about Dilandau?" Sari asked, an uncharacteristic note of fear echoing in her usually confident voice.

"We'll deal with him should it come to that," Hitomi answered calmly, her voice not betraying the fear she too was feeling as the image of a crazed albino entered her vision. "Go, I'll wait here."

Hitomi watched Sari scramble off and placed her hand back over the warm pendant, letting its comforting heat wash over her and calm her nerves. She needed to keep her head if she was going to save Van…and this girl was needed for one reason or another. She settled her mind into that cool and collected girl she didn't know existed until she first came to Gaea and after Sari came back after ten minutes or so, the two started off towards the castle immediately, and to whatever may lay there.

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**(A/N: **If I left it here I think the flames would fry my laptop ! Ended here originally though but here's the rest!

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As it turned out, whatever may lie there at the palace turned out to be two overly indulgent palace guards who practically started groveling at Hitomi's robes as she brushed by with a wave of her hand which sent the two portly soldiers out of her sight quicker than she could say "Boo."

Hitomi proceeded into the castle courtyard, passing several more intimidating looking soldiers as she went, but she continued as if she had no interest in them which in turn made those soldiers try to ignore her. Hitomi figured those were the Elitists that Sari had mentioned over and over again, and she cast out her own power to try and see if she could sense Dilandau, but her search proved fruitless. She felt Sari leave her for a minute and then come back with two others.

"What now fearless?" Loric asked Hitomi, using the nickname he gave her when she first agreed to play a Ferra and taking off some of the disguise he had adopted outside.

"Well," Hitomi said as she pulled down her cowl to look at the others each taking off the heavier layers of their costumes. "We find this princess and try to convince her to help us out. Then we all hop on Esca and get the heck out of dodge."

She turned away to look back down one of the back kitchen hallways of the palace so she didn't see the three confused faces at her last statement, but when she turned back to motion them forward, they had all masked their initial confusion well enough. Each of the companions traversed down the hallway sneakily and silently, letting Hitomi pause now and then to consult her pendant to make sure they were going the correct way. More than a few times, Loric or Sari had chosen the wrong hallway in the large palace, but the pendant always sorted them out in the end.

After a few hours of slow moving and lots of duck and covers as soldiers passed by, the companions were beginning to feel a bit weary from their exertions. Hitomi started to feel hunger pangs as she crept along a narrow passageway lined with rich carpet and dimly lit lamps, only then realizing she hadn't really ate anything since early that morning. She shrugged her shoulders and kept on creeping along, determined to not give in to any weakness or temptation until her friends and herself were all out of danger. She was so focused she didn't notice Loric had stopped and was now standing up in the hallway, rigid and one hand placed on the hilt of his sword.

"I think we're being followed," Loric said quietly and calmly as Sari too got up and began listening with her sharp hearing. "Just remain calm and don't make any sudden movem--"

Loric never got to finish his statement as a dozen or so Elitists flooded the hallway and he whipped around to fend them off. Sari also whipped out the short sword she had been training on and started to fight with that and he sharp claws. Hitomi quickly rose, helping Merle up as well, and paused to watch how well both Loric and Sari fought together for a moment before she felt Merle push her back the way they had came.

"Get out of here Hitomi," Merle growled as she started flinging daggers at the soldiers with an accuracy of a much younger woman, her wrinkled countenance drawn together in an angry scowl as she glared at the soldiers. "Van needs you more than us, get Escaflowne and get out of here!"

Hitomi stared at Merle in disbelief for a moment before she jumped back up beside the cat-woman and yanked the pendant off her neck, holding it in front of her like a dangerous piece of metal. "No way Merle! He needs all of us and I WILL NOT LEAVE ANY OF YOU HERE TO DIE!"

She fired off a jet of blue light from the burning blue pendant at their attackers then in anger, letting the pendant control her actions before she felt a presence she had hoped never to again. She quickly ducked as a sword flung over her head and she tucked the pendant back inside her cloak in a fluid motion to hide it from sight, surprised it did not sear off any of her skin with its burning heat.

"Nice to know you're still as quick as ever Hitomi Kanzaki," Dilandau Albatou drawled as he swept the long sword back to his side and sheathed it, smiling at Hitomi all the while. "However, would you look at you now! No longer that lanky little girl clinging onto Van Fanel like some child with a toy are you? If I may say so my dear girl, you have transformed into a young woman whose beauty could very well rival the late Queen Millerna's."

"Spare me your flattery Dilandau," Hitomi spat as she felt two of the Elitists grab her arms and restrain her, looking back to see her other friends in a similar position. 'This isn't really going as planned,' she thought to herself mournfully.

"Still got that temper eh?" Dilandau laughed as tore the remaining parts of her costume off, as well as those of the others'. "And still showing off those legs? The view is still just as nice my dear."

"You're a pig," Hitomi hissed as her head was pulled back by her hair, an act that displayed the still glowing pendant to the red-eyed man.

"Maybe," Dilandau chuckled as he reached for the pendant slowly with a triumphant smile playing on his thin lips. "I thought this was lost when your precious Van disappeared…he sent it to you? How sweet! Zorbane will be extremely happy to have this Hitomi, he seems to think that Van is still alive as well! What are you going to do when they find him and he's some shriveled old man like his cat-woman there? True love conquers all eh? I think not but then again, you and your lot were always so stu—AHHH!"

He retracted his hand swiftly from the pendant, screaming profanities because it had burned him. Even now, Hitomi could see the skin curling and turning black on the palm that was cradling the jewel when it flared a fiery red. He fixed his maddened eyes on Hitomi and made to slap her when he was bowled over by a huge, white dragon, maroon eyes blazing in anger as he stared at the fallen commander. The dragon spewed a white fire at some of the soldiers before Dilandau scrambled up and pressed a knife to Hitomi's neck, eyes furiously gazing at the still raging dragon.

"I'd stop now dragon," he drawled crazily, pressing the knife further into Hitomi's skin making it bleed a little. "Or else your master's precious whore is going to become my two hundredth and second kill with this knife. That's right…settle down and no one gets hurt."

"_Am I expected to trust the words that exit your vile mouth Dilandau?"_ Escaflowne asked angrily, scaring nearly all the soldiers in shock of a dragon speaking, as he did in fact calm down and stopped attacking soldiers. _"You are bar none one of the least trustworthy creatures that has ever walked this planet. What makes you believe I'll trust anything that leaves that tongue of yours?"_

"Because Zorbane doesn't want the girl dead dragon" Dilandau answered angrily. "He needs her and that cursed pendant to find your precious king. If you cooperate and let my men capture you, I swear that I will not allow any…unnecessary… harm to come to her while I wait for De'miraz and her Ferra to arrive. You really are in no position to bargain dragon, take it or let my men ravage this beautiful young lady I hold in my arms."

"Escaflowne, don't!" Hitomi gasped as a tear escaped and sped down her cheek.

The dragon stared at her with heavy maroon eyes for a moment before he lowered his wings and allowed the soldiers to ties him down with ropes that he normally could snap with a flick of his head. _"I cannot allow anything to happen to you child,"_ he said solemnly to Hitomi alone as she allowed a few more tears to escape her emerald eyes. _"But do not fear…for I believe everything will turn out for the better."_

The soldiers dragged the beautiful dragon out of the room and Dilandau made a motion to his guards, which resulted in the remaining four to be dragged away and up to what Hitomi knew was a dungeon. She turned back to glare at Dilandau when he stepped away from her and re-sheathed his knife, a promise that she would never let the Ferra use her to find Van plainly stated in her eyes.

"Don't be so sure Hitomi," Dilandau said as he wiped away some of the tears off her cheek before she was taken away to the dungeon towers. He stood silent for a moment watching it all past before his eyes before he lifted his fingers to his lips and licked the tears off. "You'll need a miracle that dear old Van can't provide for you to get out of this one."

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Rynna heaved a frustrated sigh as she gazed out her window to overlook the more destitute parts of Nadde, a city which was still one of the poorest in all of Bras'doch even though it happened to be the capitol. She wished that there was something she could do to try and help all those people besides fume futilely at her father for reform. She tore her gaze away from the city to look back at her own strange, but lovely, reflection.

She looked at herself critically and tried to pull her blue hair back into a tasteful pony-tail at the top of her head, but wisps kept falling out and tickling her face until she let go of her tresses with a humph. Amethyst eyes gazed back at her through the mirror, and Rynna found herself wishing for any color besides the one passed down to her by her mother. Then maybe she might have had some friends growing up, but no one wanted to play with the halfling princess when they could so obviously see her mother's half in her. Frankly, the only thing she thought she received from her father was her stubbornness.

She turned away from the vanity and found her eyes staring at the beautiful white dress she was to wear at her wedding to Prince Delanon, the Emperor's nephew, and she felt tears well up in her eyes against her protests. She didn't want to marry a man she had never met before, and certainly not one as cruel as Delanon was known to be; her whole life was charted out for her before she had even been born. The only factor they hadn't considered was her mother…

A loud shout outside her chambers caught her attention and she hurried away from her sleeping quarters and cautiously opened the door of her parlor that led to the hallways of the palace to peek at what was happening. She could see not only soldiers, but also Elitists hurrying down a corridor to the main audience chamber and she found herself slipping on a pair of dress slippers and hurrying after them. Her unbound hair whipped across her face as she ran to where her father held all major gatherings and parties and when she got there, she was met with the surprise of her life.

Tethered and being held by Elitists in the center of the room was a gleaming white dragon!

Rynna found herself drawn to the animal as if she couldn't control her movements, something inside her head whispering at her to move closer. The dragon turned its majestic head in a bird like way and fixed its fierce eyes on her, but they quickly softened and Rynna smiled at how beautiful this dragon was. When her mother was alive, she taught Rynna to respect all forms of nature, so naturally, she grew up to be very connected with the environment of Gaea, and now one of the great beasts of legend was standing before her. She mouthed hello and reached out her hand to pet the dragon, but before she could a voice sounded throughout the chamber that made her blood boil.

"…the rebels are who the Emperor was after, including a man who is sentenced to death for treason in Maboch. Whether or not you believe the fact that the girl is none other than Hitomi Kanzaki or not is up to you, but I am still ordered by not only the Emperor but also Zorbane to take her with us when I depart from the citadel. If you will keep this dragon, which the girl referred to as Escaflowne, here while I am gone, the Emperor would be most pleased. You may punish the others as you see fit."

"Dilandau," her father, King Valon, said in a grave voice. "You are suggesting that one of the young women who sneaked into this castle is none other than the legendary seeress who appeared on Gaea nearly seventy years ago. It is a hard tale to swallow…do you have any proof?"

"She has the legendary Atlantean pendant she used to see the future last time with her," Dilandau said with such insolence that Rynna wanted to slap him for it. "And this dragon seems to be able to communicate because of her. Apparently, she thinks that Van Fanel of lost Fanelia is still alive somewhere and wishes to find him. They were sweethearts after all according to the legends."

Valon seemed to deliberate the information for much longer than a minute or two before he finally said, "If it is the Emperor's wish to apprehend this girl masquerading as the Mystic Moon seeress, then I will not interfere. I will also keep the dragon as you requested until you return. What shall be done with it when you come back then?"

"Well," Dilandau said as he glanced cruelly back at the white dragon who merely stared back at him passively. "I assume that our Emperor will wish it to be put to death. The Zaiboch Empire cannot afford to have such a dangerous beast on their hands after all. What if the Black Rose got a hold of it?"

Just as her father and some of his advisors nodded their heads in a defeated gesture, Rynna gasped and rushed toward her father, yelling loudly, "No!"

"Rynna," Valon said startled as he saw his daughter rush his podium and push Dilandau out of the way. "What are you doing here?"

"You can't let them kill the dragon father!" Rynna said angrily as tears of aggravation and sadness sprang into hey lavender eyes. "How can you let them tell you that such a beautiful creature is dangerous? Look at its eyes, that dragon is more intelligent and feeling than most people in this room!"

"I would control your daughter if I were you your _Highness_," Dilandau said lowly to Valon, the albino's eyes seeming to glow red in the light.

"Rynna," Valon said assertively but gently. "Stay your words. If our Emperor thinks this creature will be a threat, we must respect his decision. You are embarrassing yourself and me as well with your outburst."

"I don't care," Rynna said dangerously, narrowing her eyes at her father, shocked at her own daring. "This is wrong! How can you let the opinions of one cruel man rule your thoughts? Why must everything worthwhile in Gaea now be considered a threat to the Zaiboch Empire father? When will you once again bec--"

"Enough!" Valon said angrily and loudly, rising from his seat and glaring at his daughter. "You have said enough girl! You shame me with your impudence and ignorance. It is high time you learn your place and start acting like a princess!"

There was shocked silence from everyone in the chamber, surprised by how callously the King had spoken to his beloved daughter, not noticing themselves the look of remorse flicker across Valon's face. Only Dilandau and Rynna saw it, but the latter was angrier at her father for it.

"Mother would be disappointed in the man you have become your Highness," Rynna said coldly as a tear leaked out of one amethyst eye. She turned on her heel and hurried out of the chamber, sprinting as quickly as she could back towards her chambers. Once there, she locked all her entry ways and flung herself upon her bed and sobbed herself into a fitful sleep. Images of her mother and father passed through her vision as she dreamt, images of a happier time in her life that she never could quite reach now. The last thing she saw was a picture of a white dragon tethered in the main courtyard, maroon eyes fixed on her only.

"_Rynna, we need your help."_

She jolted awake and found that night had descended upon Nadde, the two moons hanging in the sky, almost mocking her captivity with their freedom. Rynna sat in her bed for a moment, mulling over what she had just heard in her head before she made up her mind, still angry with her father and feeling a bit rebellious. She slipped off the formal clothing she was in and slipped on a cream colored chemise along with brown breeches and black boots. She bound her bluish-silver hair back with a leather band and slipped on a pair of black gloves. She last pulled on a brown riding jacket over her ensemble and she looked at herself in the mirror for a minute.

She looked like on of the outlaw women that ran among the black Rose and she smiled in humor thinking these clothes looked better on her than the courtly dresses did. Bending down to tuck in her breeches into her boots she said with a melodic laugh, "All I need is a dagger and an eye-patch, than I'd be a real outlaw!"

She made her way untroubled down to where the dragon was tethered and found three Elitists guards surrounding the dragon, two of which were nearly sleeping. She crept forward a bit closer, low to the ground like she saw the young soldiers practicing to due out on the terrace sometimes. When she was close enough, she made a clicking noise to try and get the dragon's attention and sure enough, it worked like a charm because the next thing she knew, all three of the soldiers were down on the ground, obviously unconscious based on their positions.

Rynna hurried over to the waiting dragon and hurriedly cut off the ropes binding it with one of the soldier's blade. The dragon unfurled its great wings once free in a silent manner, looking so beautiful it put a smile on Rynna's face, and then fixed its maroon eyes on her like it had in the chamber earlier.

"_Thank you princess. Now, if you don't mind, we need to go and rescue the rest of my companions who Dilandau captured while we were trying to get to you today."_

Rynna was about to ask the dragon that it could talk when she realized how silly that sounded and instead opted for, "You were looking for me? But why, I'm nothing special, just the disobedient daughter of a cowardly king."

She knew how bitter she sounded, but she couldn't keep the words from tumbling out. She felt the dragon lift her lowered face with its wing and stare at her face intently before saying in its mysterious manner, _"Well princess, someone up in that prison tower thinks you are something special…and I find myself agreeing with her more and more. It took a great amount of courage to speak your mind today in that chamber, much greater than you yourself give credit for. I know you are dissatisfied with the way things in Gaea are going, ad I offer you a chance to help change it. However, you must be as brave as you were earlier today if you choose to help and come with us."_

"Go with you?" Rynna asked almost to herself, her head and heart flooded with emotions. "Does that mean I'd never see my father again? Would I ever come back to Nadde or Bras'doch at all?"

"_Perhaps yes and perhaps not. If you choose to come with us, you will be branded a traitor against the Zaiboch Empire and will face untold dangers. However, if we succeed in our journey, we may be able to rid Gaea of the Ferra and evil once and for all. We have foreseen that we will need your aid to bring about a better future, but I will not force you to undertake this dangerous journey without your consent."_

"She really is Hitomi Kanzaki the seeress isn't she?" Rynna asked in an amazed voice and when the dragon nodded its head she plowed on. "And you really are the legendary Guymelef Escaflowne! Are you truly looking for King Van Fanel as well?"

The dragon nodded again, an amused look in its eyes as she whispered to herself how his story was one of her favorites. She looked conflicted as the pros and cons flashed before her but the dragon felt relief when she faced him with a determined look on her face.

"I think that it is about time that someone show Emperor Salodin just how wrong and depraved he is. I know I should probably think things like this through more, but I can't just wait around anymore and wish that things are going to change. My mother would have gone off to fight, so that's just what I'm going to do. So Escaflowne, I guess you have my help so let's go and free the rest of your friends!"

Escaflowne looked at her kindly and allowed her to climb up on his back, which she did in a fluid motion. _"Are you sure you wish to do this Princess?"_ the white dragon asked again to make sure she was positive about helping them out. _"You could anger your father by this and also potentially outcast yourself from him."_

"My father needs to learn that you need to fight for some things," Rynna stated in a quiet voice as she screwed her eyes shut while Escaflowne pushed off into the air. "I can't live knowing that I could've done something to help all these people and just decided not to because I was afraid of what my father might say."

"_That and I suppose you don't want to marry the nephew of the man causing most of this pain by using the Ferra?"_ Escaflowne asked in a wily tone as he paused and let her open the window to her own room so she could gather a few more things and money they would no doubt need as the journey progressed.

"That too," Rynna said with a genuine smile on her face as she disappeared into her room. It only took a minute or two when she arrived with a sack of gowns and other clothing in one hand and a rather large pouch of money in the other. She climbed back on Escaflowne and the two sped off into the sky towards the towers that she pointed out as the dungeon ones.

Escaflowne didn't even bother with subtlety this time, simply crashing right through the wall and immediately killing the four Elitists that were guarding the four cells. Rynna slid off the dragons back, hurried over to the opposite wall, retrieved the keys, and unlocked each of the cells as quickly as she could. First a young man with bright blue eyes, then two cat-people (one older and one younger) were released, and last was a girl about her age with the brightest green eyes Rynna had ever seen. The girl looked into her eyes and gave a smirk as she grabbed her hand and ran towards the waiting white dragon.

"My name's Hitomi," the girl said even though Rynna had already figured that much out. "I'm guessing you're the princess of Bras'doch."

Rynna just nodded as she also clambered up on the white dragon along with the other four people, marveling how it was able to hold so many people in the air. She didn't wonder about that particular feat for to long as Escaflowne pushed off into the air and away from the castle just as the shouts of soldiers could be heard from the tower. Sitting behind the young man, she gripped his waist tighter as the dragon climbed higher into the sky as the cat girl and Hitomi spoke to the dragon about something. She glanced behind her to see the older cat woman looking at her with a smile and mouth hello to her before she turned her attention back towards the front.

"Where are we going?" the young man she was holding asked in an annoyed voice. "And how long will it take to get there?"

"We're heading for Draboch Loric," Hitomi answered with a slight laugh as Escaflowne went into a slight dive to avoid an air current. "Formerly known as the Duchy of Freid to find a one-eyed man clothed in blood. Then it's off to Atlantis to find Van like my vision told me."

Rynna didn't catch the rest of the conversation, so caught up in the exhilaration of pulling off a successful rescue mission to really care about the rest. All she knew was that now she was headed somewhere to help people, and she was charting her own life.

That was all that mattered as the sun started to rise for the new day.

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**A/N: **Okay, real ending this time! That one was a doozy, 33 pages man! Well I hoped you all liked it! Please review people, it helps me on the inside ! I'll try to be better about updating the next one…it's a good one I promise, but it's also a bit sad! Until next time, Adieu!

Osco


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